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STANDARD  HISTORY 


OF    THE 


Medical  Profession 


LADELPHIA 


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STANDARD    HISTORY 


I  »!     I  HE 


MEDICAL  PROFESSION 


OF 


PHILADELPHIA. 


EDITED  BY 

Frederick  P.  Henry,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 

Fellow  anj  Honorary    Librarian  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia;  Member  of  the  American  Medical 

A>sociati'jn:   of    the  Association    of   American   Physicians;  of   the  Philadelphia  County    Medical 

Society,  and  of  the  Pathological  Society  of  Philadelphia:  Corresponding  Member  of  the 

Royal  Academy  of  Medicine  of  Rome:  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice 

"t  Medicine,  and  of  Clinical  Medicine,  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College 

of  Pennsylvania:  Physician  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospital.  Etc. 

With  the  collaboration  of  James  M.  Ajuters,  M.  D.,  Richard  J.  Dunglison,  M.  D.,  Charles 
K.  Mills.  M.  D.,  Francis  R.  Packard,  M.  D..  William  H.  Ford,  M.  D.,  and  others. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


CHICAGO: 
GOODSPEED    BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS. 
1897. 


tf^^. 


PREFACE. 


The  object  of  iliis  work  is  to  describe  the  evolution  of  medicine  in 
Philadelphia,  from  the  time  of  Jan  Petersen,  the  earliest  practitioner 
on  record,  to  the  present  day.  it  is.  ;is  all  history  must  necessarily  i><-. 
;i  description  of  events  and  of  institutions,  and.  incidentally,  a  biograph 
ical  record  of  those  who  have  been  mos1  prominenl  in  both.  Estimates 
uf  the  character  of  the  distinguished  men  whose  Dames  appear  on  almost 
every  page,  and  comparisons  of  institutions,  have  been  sedulously 
avoided.  The  facts  arc  left  to  speak  for  themselves,  the  true  office  of 
history  being,  in  the  winds  of  Lord  Bacon,  "to  represent  the  events 
themselves  ....  and  to  leave  the  observations  and  conclusions  there 
upon  to  the  liberty  and  faculty  of  every  man's  judgment." 

In  dealing  with  such  a  multiplicity  of  names,  dates  and  events,  mis 
takes  may  have  crept  in,  in  spite  of  the  most  careful  supervision;  but. 
if  this  be  so,  it  is  a  consolation  to  know  that  many  errors  of  previous 
writers  have  been  corrected. 

A  work  of  this  sort  has  never  before  been  attempted.  The  nearest 
approach  to  it  is  the  admirable  Early  History  of  Medicine  in  Philadelphia, 
by  the  late  Prof.  George  W.  Norris,  M.  I).,  but  this  was.  "for  the  most 
part,  written  in  184o,"  and  was  unfinished  ai  the  time  of  the  distinguished 
author's  death,  in  1875.  Chapters  of  the  medical  history  of  Philadelphia 
have  been  written  by  others,  notably  by  the  late  I  >rs.  Joseph  Carson  and 
VV.  S.  AY.  Ruschenberger,  but  the  work  of  the  former  is  limited  to  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  that  of  the  latter  to  the  College  of 
Physicians. 

The  authorship  of  this  history  is  compound.  The  materials  of  the 
first  five  chapters  were  collected  by  an  experienced  historian  in  the 
employ  of  the  publishers,  and  then  subjected  to  careful  editorial  revision. 
That  portion  of  Chapter  V  containing  the  history  of  the  Medico-Chirurg- 
ical  College  was  written  by  Dr.  .lames  M.  Anders.  The  chapter  on  the 
Public  Medical  Libraries  of  Philadelphia  was  written  by  Dr.  Richard  J. 
Dunjjlison:  that  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  by  Dr.  Charles  K.  Mills: 
1  hat  on  Medical  and  Surgical  Appliances,  by  Dr.  Francis  R.  Packard; 
and  that  on  Medical  Literature  and  Journals,  by  the  editor.  The  His- 
tory of  the  Board  of  Health,  contained  in  Chapter  IV.  was  contributed 
by  the  late  Dr.  William  II.  Ford.  Among  others  who  have  been  helpful 
in  the  preparation  of  the  work,  either  by  their  advice  or  more  active 
cooperation,  may  be  mentioned  Drs.  Theophilus  Parvin.  -John  Ashhurst. 
Alfred  Stille",  William  F.  Norris.  John  IT.  Brinton,  William  Pepper, 
•lames  c.  Wilson.  William  M.  Welch.  John  II.  Packard,  Charles  E.  Cad 
walader,  Poland  <i.  Curtin,  Henry  Leffmann,  William  B.  Atkinson,  J.  K«»ss 
Gordon,  I.  T.  Strittmatter,  Samuel  Wolfe,  (Mara  Marshall.  Anna  .M. 
Pullerton,  Prances  Emily  White  and  Pemberton  Dudley. 

The  work  of  examining  the  hooks  and  manuscripts  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  was  -ready  facilitated  by  the  cordial  cooperation  of  Mr. 
Charles  Perry  Fisher,  the  librarian,  and  Miss  M.  C.  Rutherford,  the 
assistant  librarian,  of  that  institution.  Thanks  are  due  Mr.  F.  <  lutekunsi 
for  the  use  of  photographs  for  illustrations,  and  the  editor  is  under 
special  obligation  to  l>r.  Anna  M.  Pullet-ton  for  assistance  in  the  arduous 
work  <»f  revision. 

THE   EDITOR 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Pad 

Reference  to  the  First  i'>i»<>k  on  American  Surgery J7 

Jan  Petersen,  Barber,  a  Salaried  Surgeon 18 

First  Medical  Representative  on  the  Delaware 18 

Early  Settlement  of  tlu-  1  Hitch  and  Swedes 19 

"Jan  Oosting,  the  Surgeon" i;» 

William  van   Rasen/berg lit 

Peter  Tyneuian,    Volunteer  Surgeon 20 

Olaf  Person  Stille 20 

John   Goodson,    Ohdrurgeon 21 

First  Pennsylvania  Practicing  Physician. , -\ 

Dr.   Nicholas   Moore ^1 

Names  of  Many   Early   Physicians 21 

First  Recorded   Amputation -.: 

First  Quarantine  Law  Passed 23 

Advent  of  Early  English  Episcopalians 24 

Duties   of   "Apprentices" 24 

John  Redman,  the  Preceptor  of  Rush i'4 

Thomas  Cadwalader,  William  Shippen,  Thomas  and   Phiueas  Pond  and  Cad- 

walader    Evans 25 

I >rs.  Thomas  Graeme  and  John  Bartram 26 

Early  Medical  Lectures  In   Philadelphia 28 

v  atopsy  in  a  Case  of  Mollitles  Ossium iH.' 

Lazaretto  Buildings  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Schuylkill 32 

I  m  .  Thomas  Pond  and  Founding  Of  the  First  Permanent  Hospital 32 

Extract  from  the  First  Regular  Clinical  Lectures 34 

Dr.   William   Shippen.    Sr 38 

Proceedings  of  Hospitals   Managers 38 

Dr.    John    Fothergill 40 


8  CONTEXTS. 

Page. 

Early  Medical  Schools  of  Dr.  Shippen 42 

Dr.  Morgan,  "Shippen's  Assistant'' 4S 

College   of   Philadelphia 61 

Portrait  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush 67 

Hospital  Ward  of  the  Almshouse,  or  "Bettering  House*' 71 

Drs.  Gerardus  Clarkson  and  Thomas  Parke 72 


CHAPTER   II. 

Revolutionary   War    Phj'.sicians 73 

The   Hospital    Department 74 

Conflict  of  Authority  Between  Drs.  Morgan  and  Stringer 76 

Transfer  of  the  General  Hospital  to  New  York 77 

Appointment  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  Jr 78 

Removal  of  the  Sick  to  Philadelphia SI 

Dismissal,  by  Congress,  of  Drs.  Morgan  and  Stringer 83 

Elevation  of  Rush  to  the  Office  of  Surgeon-General 84 

"Single  Brethren's  House"  as  a  Hospital 86 

Forcible  Occupancy  of  the  Almshouse  Hospital 87 

Congress  Endorses  the  Action  of  Dr.  Morgan 88 

Philadelphia  Occupied  by  the  British  in  1777 91 

Partial  List  of  Philadelphia  Revolutionary  War  Physicians 95 

Philadelphia  Physicians  According  to  the  Directory  of  1785 06 

Dr.  Samuel  Powel  Griffitts 98 

Establishment  of  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary 98 

Founding  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia 99 

Drs.  George  Glentworth  and  Abraham  Chovet 103 

Union  of  the  Two  Medical  Schools  as  Advocated  by  Dr  Rush 105 

Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania In.", 

Yellow    Fever    in    Philadelphia 108 

Dr.    Benjamin    Duffiekl Ill 

Rush  Hill  as  a  Hospital 112 

Treatment  of  Yellow  Fever  1  >y  1  >r.  Rush 114 

Dr.  William   Currie ' 116 

Resignation  of  Dr.  Rush  from  the  College  of  Physicians 117 


CONTEXTS.  :, 

L'AOH. 

The   Academy   of   Medicine   <>r    Philadelphia i  id 

Recurrence  of  Yellow  Fever  in   1798 [20 

Example   «>r    Heroic    Fortitude hm 

Estimates  of  the  Life  and  Character  of  Dr.  Rush il"_' 

History  <>f  I  >r.  Rush (22  to  138 

Dr.    John    Redman    Coxe ]•;;> 

Introduction   of   Vaccination   in    Philadelphia in 

Dr.    Thomas    C.    James i  12 

i>r.    Caspar    Wistar 143 

Dr.   Philip  Syng    Physicli 145 

The    Philadelphia    Medical    Institute 148 


CHAPTER   111. 

Location  of   Many   Physicians L50 

The   University    Faculty 152 

Methods  <>i'  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chapman 153 

l>r.   Charles   Caldwell i.v. 

Dr.    Joseph    Parrish L56 

The  Philadelphia  Anatomical  Rooms  and  Dr.  J.  V.  <>.  Lawrence 157 

l>r.    T.    T.    I  lew  son i:,;» 

]>;•.    George    McClellan ir.:> 

Dr.    John    Eberle 160 

Cause  of  Establishing  a   New  Medical  School  In   Philadelphia 159 

Commencement    of   the   Jefferson    Medical    College 164 

Dr.    Benjamin    Rush    Rhees 164 

'Dr.    Jacob    Green 165 

An  Incident  In  the  Career  of  Dr.  McClellan 1»">7 

Dr.    Samuel    McClellan 171 

Dr.   Granville   Sharpe   Pattison 171 

Dr.    Samuel    Colhoun 171 

Dr.    Roblej     Dunglison 173 

[ndependenl   Charter  Secured  by  Jeffi  rsou   Medical  College 1 7 1 

Early  Disagreement  In  the  N'cw  College  Fai  ulty 175 

A  New  School  Founded  by  1  >r.  Met  'lellan 17.". 

Dr.    Samuel    G.    Morton 17<; 


In  CONTEXTS. 

I'AGE. 

Fhiladelpliia   College   of  Medicine 178 

Franklin   Medical    College    Chartered 170 

Establishment  of  the  Homeopathic  Medical  College , . .  .  180 

Washington    Medical    College ]  80 

Eclectic   Medical   College   of   Philadelphia 180 

Female   Medical    College 181 

First  Graduates  from  the  Female  Medical  College 181 

First  Woman  Professor  in  a  Medical  College 182 

Dr.    Elizabeth   Horton    Cleveland 182 

Perm  Medical  University 182 

National    Convention    of    ls44 183 

■Organization  of  the  Philadelphia   County  Medical   .Society 181 

Woman's   Medical   College   Founded 1 si; 

Fir.    William    P.    Dewees 188 

Dr.    William    E.    Horner 189 

Dr.   William  Gibson.   LL.  D 190 

Dr.    Robert    Hare 102 

Dr.   George  B.   Wood 198 

Dr.    Hugh    F.    Hodge 194 

Dr.    Samuel    Jackson 195 

Dr.   William   W.    Gerhard 107 

The   New   Jefferson    Medical    College 199 

Dr.    Joseph    Pancoast 201 

Dr.  Thon.a>  D.  Mutter 202 

Dr.    John    Kearsley    Mitchell 203 

Dr.    Charles    D.    Meigs 205 

Dr.    Franklin    Bache 208 

Dr.  Rem  La  Roche 209 

Dr.    Isaac    Hays : 210 

Extract  from  Address  of  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  in  1863 211 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Extract  from  the  Directory  of  1860 -1:; 

Effect  of  the  War  on  Jefferson  Medical  College 219 


Effect  of  the  War  on  Other  Philadelphia  Medical   svh.N'l>. 


Dr.    .I.i  mi  >     B.     R< 


CONTENTS.  t| 

I'AGB. 

223 


Dr.    Robert    E.    Rogers 224 

l  >r.    Joseph    Corson j_-(; 

Dr.    Joseph    Leidy 227 

Dr.    i  >.    Hayes    Agnew 234 

Portrall   of   Dr.   i».   Hayes  Agnew 237 

Dr.   William    Pepper,   sr _-ii 

J>r.    Francis   Gurney   Smith 243 

Portrah  of  Dr.  Alfred  Stllle" 240 

Dr.   Alfred   still*' 247 

Dr.    s.    i>.    Gross 259 

l>r.     Thomas     Mitchell 256 

Dr.   Samuel    II.    Dickson 257 

Dr.    Eflerslie    Wallace 558 

I  »i .    B.    Howard    Rand 259 

Dr.   John    I?.    Biddle 259 

Dr;  James   Aitkin   Meigs 260 

First    Military    Hospital 263 

List   of  Philadelphia  Volunteer  Surgeons 264 

Satterlee   Hospital 267 

Mower   Hospital    269 

Mel  ftellan    Hospital    •-•»;'.» 

I  [ospital    Statistics    jt«» 

Founding   of    New   Colleges 271 

"Bogus    Diploma"    Schools 272 

Woman's  Medical]  College,  and  Women  in  Medicine J7l' 

Resolutions,  in  1858,  of  the  County  Medical  Society -74 

Epidemics   276 

Dr.  William   11.   Ford -,v><> 

Sanitary    Conditions    281 

Quarantine  station  on   Little  Tinlcum   island 286 

Statistics    287 

Hygienic  Conditions   in    1869 299 

Important   Changes   In    1885 292 

Influenza   Epidemic  of    1889-90 : 294 

"Wigwam    l  rospltal" 296 

Hospitals   for  Contagious   Diseases 296 


12  CONTEXTS. 

Page. 
Present    Sanitary    Conditions 298 

Philadelphia  as  a  "City  of  Homes" 302 

Physician  Presidents  of  the  Board  of  Health 304 

Centennial    Anniversary.    1876 307 


CHAPTER  V. 

Hospitals  and  Societies  in  18G8 :S14 

Dr.    John    Xeill 316 

Dr.    Theodore    G.    Wormley 318 

Present  Faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University ."!2<i 

Portrait  of  Dr.  William  Pepper 325 

Samuel  W.  Gross,  M.  D..  LL.  D 327 

Portrait  of  Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costa ".".i  i 

Present  Faculty  of  Jefferson  Medical   College 332 

Recognition  of  Women  as  Physicians 335 

Jefferson  Medical  College  of  To-day 332 

Present  Faculty  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College 339 

The    Medico-Chirurgical    College 349 

Dr.    George    P.    Oliver 345 

Dr.  James  E.  Garretsom  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S 349 

Dr.  William  H.   Pancoast,   A.   M 350 

Dr.    Henry   Ernest  Goodman 351 

Professors  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College 353 

Philadelphia  Polyclinic  and  College  for  Graduates  in  Medicine :'.<;<> 

1  >r.    Richard   J.    Levis 361 

Philadelphia  Post-Graduate  School  of  Homeopathics 369 

Medical    Societies     370 

I  >r.  W.  S.  W.  Rusehenborger 372 

I ir.    Samuel    Levis 372 

Presidents  of  the  College  of  Physicians 372 

Lewis    Library     372 

Portrait  of  Dr.   S.   Weir  Mitchell ■"•~:; 

Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society :!,;i 

International  Medical  College  of  18S7 382 


C(  »\  i  i:\  i  B  13 

American    Medical    Association  of   1886 

Resolutions  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society 

Presidents  of  the  County   Medical  Society 

Pathological  Society •"■'.■l 

Northern    Medical    Association :::•» 

Medical  Jurisprudence  Society 300 

Early  Clinical  Instruction  in  the  Philadelphia   Hospital 100 

Revival  of  Clinical  Instruction  of  Philadelphia   Hospital  In   1854 402 

Pennsylvania    ii<>s|»ii:il    staff 103 

9 

Philadelphia     Hospital    staff 105 

Other    Hospitals    (08 

Philadelphia    Lying-in    Charity 120 

wvst    Philadelphia   Hospital   for  Women 123 

Training   School    for   Nurses 424 

Orthopaedic  Hospital 428 

1 1 oiiio    Eoi'    Incurables 42'J 

Recapitulation    130 


CHAPTER  VI. 

E.itiicst  Inventions  by  Philadelphia  Physicians 4:;4 

inventions  by  Dr.  Thomas  Bond 4:;4 

Inventions  i.y   J  >r.    Philip  Syng   Physick i.:i 

inventions  by   Dr.  Joseph   Hartshorne i.;s 

Inventions  by  Drs.  Parrish,  Syng,  Dorsey,  Gibson,  Meigs,  Barton,  and  Horner.,  )".'.• 

Inventions  by  I >rs.  Hodge,  S.  1  >.  < S-ross,  Pancoast,  and  Fox 440 

Inventions bj  Drs.  Henry  Horner  Smith,  l».  Hayes  Agnew,  and  John  .Will 441 

Inventions  by  Drs.   Levis.  Hewson  and  others 142 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Medical  Library  of   the   Pennsylvania    Hospital H.~. 

Library  of  the  College  of   Physicians i:,u 

Portrait  of  Dr.  J.  0.   Wilson ,.-,-, 

Medical  Library  of  the   Philadelphia    Hospital 


14  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE. 

Medical  Jurisprudence  iu  Philadelphia 407 

Lecture  by  Dr.   Rush  in  1810 407 

Publications  by  Drs.  Thomas  Cooper,  J.  Bell  and  by  Michael  Ryan 408 

"Medical    Jurisprudence    of    Insanity" 409 

Dr.   John   James   Reese 409 

Auxiliary  Department  of  Medicine  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 470 

Medical  Lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  by  Dr.  Charles  K.  Mills 471 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman  as  a  Teacher  on  Medical  Jurisprudence 471 

Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  Woman's  and  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Colleges.   472 

''A  Monograph  on  Mental  Unsoundness" 473 

"Wharton  and  Stille's  Medical  Jurisprudence 473 

Hamilton's  System  of  Legal  Medicine 474 

Medico-Legal   Society  of  Philadelphia 474 

The  Medical  Jurisprudence  Society  of  Philadelphia 475 

Professor  Theodore  G.  Wormley,  M.  D..  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D 470 

Dr.  Henry  Leff mann,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D 477 

H.   C.  Wood.   M.   D.,  LL.   D 477 

Other   Experts  on   Medical   Jurisprudence 478 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Medical   Literature    of    Philadelphia 479 

Early    Publications    480 

Publications  Between  Cadwalder's  Treatise  and  the  Writings  of  Rush 481 

"A  Relation  of  a  Cure  Performed  by  Electricity" 482 

Thesis  and  Writings  of  Dr.  John  Morgan 483 

Principal  Contributions  to  Literature  by  Dr.  Rush 487 

Dr.  William  Currie  on  Yellow  Fever 490 

Principal  Works  by  Dr.  William  Currie 491 

Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  as  an  Author 492 

Prof.    Caspar    Wistar's    Publications 493 

'■Elements  of  Surgery,"  by  John  Syng  Dorsey 493 

John  Redman  Coxe's   Contributions 494 

Contributions  of  Dr.  John  C.  Otto  and  Philip  Syng  Physick 4*»5 

Writings  of  Dr.  William  Potts  Dewees 490 

Nathaniel    Chapman's    Contributions 4!)< 

Samuel  Jackson's  Articles  in  the  Various  Medical  Journals 498 


CONTEXTS.  15 

I*  LC 

Charles   i».   Meigs'   Notable   Works 188 

Contributions  to  Medical  Literature,  i>y  Dr.  William  E.  Borner 190 

i .; .  i:.ii.'  i..-i  Roche  and  Bis  Contributions 500 

Joseph  G.  Jfanerede,  Reporter  of  1 1 * « -  First  Case  of  Caesarian    Section  in  Phila- 
delphia      :,,Mr 

Dr.  Bugh   I..   Bodge  on  Obstetrics 501 

Principles  and   Practice  of  Surgery 501 

John   Kearsley  Mitchell  <>n    Fevers 503 

Works  of  John   Bell 505 

Contributions  of  Drs.  David  Francis  Condie  and  George  B.  Wood 505 

Robley    I  >unglison's    Writings '<tH> 

Samuel   David  cross  as  a   Literator 508 

Portrali   of  Samuel  r>.  Cross 509 

.Joseph  Pancoast's  Contributions 512 

George   W.   Norrls'    Writings 513 

Puerperal  Eclampsia,  by  Joseph  « 'arson 514 

<  »\  ariotoray  as  Performed  by  Washington  L.  Atlee 514 

Willla in    Wood    Gerhard 515 

Literary  Work  of  William   Popper 519 

"Review  of  the  Materia  Medica  for  the  L'se  of  Students" 520 

Brochure  by  Thomas  Dour  Mutter 520 

Henry  BoHingsworth  Smith's  Contributions  to  Surgical  Literature 521 

The  Surgical  Literature  of  D.  Hayes  Agnew 521 

"Diseases  of  Children,"  by  J.  Forsyth  Meigs 522 

Writings  of  John  Neill r'-4 

(  oniributions  of  Henry   Hartshorue  and  William    Hunt 525 

Surgical  Literature  of  Richard  J.   Levis 528 

Works  of  William  Goodfill :,-~ 

01>stietrics  and  Gynecology,  by  Albert  II.  Smith "-s 

.lames    Howell    Hutchinson 528 

Samuel    Weissel    Cross'    Writings 529 

Medica]   Literature  of  John  S.   Parry 532 

Henry  F.  Formad  and  His  Writings :,:::; 

Principal    Works   of    Kilwanl    Tunis    Brueii :>'4 

Dr.  John  M.   Keating — 

Numerous    Writers  of   Medical    Literature 536 

Medical  Journals  of   Philadelphia ■'•" 


V  Standard  History  of  Medicine  in 

Philadelphia. 


CHAPTEE    I. 

THE    COLONIAL    PERIOD. 

N  THE  first  book  (a)  on  American  surgery,  whose  author  was 
a  pupil  of  the  first  Philadelphia  author  (b)  iu  medicine, 
is  this  interesting-  resume:  "At  the  revival  of  letters  in 
Europe,  when  the  cultivation  of  the  languages  had  opened 
the  treasures  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  there  arose 
a  number  of  great  men,  in  all  the  different  branches  of  science; 
but  what  was  very  peculiar  to  the  state  of  surgery,  partic- 
ularly in  Italy  and  Germany,  is,  that  this  science  was  culti- 
vated and  practiced  by  the  same  men  who  studied  and  prac- 
ticed physic;  so  that  the  same  persons  were  at  once  admirable 
surgeons,  and  excellent  physicians;  and  it  is  precisely  at  this 
era,  that  a  crowd  of  celebrated  men  arise,  whose  works  will 
forever  do  honor  to  themselves  and  their  profession.  But  it  was 
not  long  before  the  operation  of  some  of  those  passions  (which 
have  so  much  influence  in  the  affairs  of  mankind,  occasioned  the 
decline,  and  almost  total  extinction  of  surgery.  The  exterior  of 
this  science  has  nothing  pleasing  or  attractive  in  it,  but  is  rather 
disgusting  to  nice,  timid  and  delicate  persons.  Its  objects,  too, 
except  in  time  of  war,  lying  chiefly  among  the  poor  and  lower  class 
of  mankind,  do  not  excite  the  industry  of  the  ambitious  or  avari- 
cious, who  find  their  best  account  among  the  rich  and  groat:  for 
this  reason,  those  illustrious  men  who  were  at  once  great  physi- 
cians  and  surgeons,  abandoned  the  most  disagreeable  and  un- 
fa) "Wounds  and  Fractures,"  by  i>".  rohn  Jones,  177.". 
Mi)    Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader,  1745. 


18  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

profitable  part  of  their  profession,  to  follow  that  branch  alone 
which  at  once  gratified  their  ease,  their  avarice  and  ambition. 
This  revelation  gave  rise  to  the  second  state  of  surgery.  The 
medical  surgeons,  in  quitting  the  exercise  of  the  arts,  retained 
the  right  of  directing  the  barbers,  to  whom  the  operations  and  exter- 
nal applications  of  surgery  were  committed.  From  this  separation, 
the  surgeon  was  no  longer  one  and  the  same  individual,  but  a  mon- 
strous and  unnatural  composition  of  two  persons;  of  a  physician 
who  arrogated  to  himself  an  extensive  knowledge  of  science,  and 
consequently  the  right  of  directing,  and  a  surgeon  operator,  to 
whom  the  mere  manual  part  was  committed.  The  danger  of  this 
separation  of  the  science  of  surgery  from  the  art  of  operating 
was  not  at  first  perceived.  The  great  masters  who  had  exercised 
surgery  as  well  as  physic,  were  still  alive,  and  the  dexterity  they 
had  acquired  was  sufficient  to  direct  and  assist  the  automaton 
or  man  operator;  but  as  soon  as  this  Hippocratic  race  of  men, 
as  Fallopius  justly  styles  them,  were  no  more,  the  progress  of 
surgery  was  not  only  retarded,  but  the  art  itself  was  almost  ex- 
tinguished, little  more  than  the  bare  name  remaining." 

Even  down  to  the  very  years  of  Jones'  pupilage  (d),  there  had 
been  in  London  an  authorized  alliance  of  the  Barber's  Company 
and  the  Guild  of  Surgeons  since  the  time  of  Columbus,  so  that,  in 
the  years  when  the  Dutch  and  Swedes  were  seeking  to  forestall 
one  another  and  the  English,  in  the  North  and  South  Rivers  on 
either  side  of  peninsular  Jersey,  one  is  prepared  for  the  statement 
that  Jan  Petersen  (e),  barber,  from  Alfendolft,  was  a  salaried 
surgeon  on  South  River  (f)  at  ten  guilders  a  month,  beginning 
with  July  10, 1638,  the  year  of  the  first  arrival  of  Swedish  colonists. 
Whether  he  was  located  at  Fort  Nassau,  an  old  Dutch  fort  near 
the  site  of  Gloucester,  or  at  that  made  by  the  colonists  at  Fort 
Christina,  now  Wilmington,  he  is  the  first  representative  of  the 
medical  profession  on  the  Delaware,  of  which  record  is  known, 

(d)  1745. 

(e)  Dutch  archives  of  the  Albany  Records  of  1841.  by  Brondhead. 

(f)  The   Delaware. 


IX  E'HILADELPHIA.  19 

and  Iiis  second  year  of  practice  \\ n s  characterized  by  numerous 
climatic  diseases  among  tin-  colonists. 

The  Dutch  ;in«l  Swedish  colonists  min-lcd  freely  together, 
however  the  authorities  might  fight,  and  when  in  L654  the  Dutch 
gained  the  Delaware  and  founded  the  first  permanenl  settle- 
ment, New  Amstel,  near  New  Castle,  there  were  only  368  souls  of 
both  tongues.  Nothing  indicates  that  those  Swedes,  who  began 
to  turn  their  eyes  toward  the  Schuylkill,  took  a  physician  with 
them,  and  "Mr.  Jan  Oosting,  the  Surgeon,"  at  New  Amstel,  of 
whom  the  vice-director  (g)  writes  on  May  5,  L657,  may  have  served 
for  the  whole  region.  A  letter  of  the  following  year  (h)  also  refers 
to  "Master  Jan,"  and  gives  a  quaint  picture  of  the  situation,  polit- 
ically and  medically:  "In  respect  to  the  Swedish  nation  and  I  heir 
lands,  which  are  now  partly  vacant  and  partly  occupied  and  culti- 
vated by  them,''  he  writes,  "there  are  two  parcels  of  the  best  land 
on  the  river  on  the  west  bank;  the  first  of  which  is  above  Manet  ions 
hook  about  two  leagues  along  the  river  and  four  leagues  into  the 
interior;  the  second,  on  a  guess,  about  three  leagues  along  the 
same,  including  Schuylkill,  Passajonck,  Quinsessingh,  right  ex- 
cellent land,  the  grants  and  deeds  whereof,  signed  in  the  original 
by  Queen  Christina,  I  have  seen;  they  remain  here.  I  believe  the 
proprietors,  as  they  style  themselves,  or  those  who  hold  the  ground 
briefs,  would  willingly  dispose  of  them  for  a  trifle,  according  to 
their  value  and  worth.  In  like  manner  there  are  some  old  inhab- 
itants here,  sworn  subjects  of  this  province,  who,  in  the  years  L652 
and  1653,  purchased,  with  the  consent  of  the  General,  from  the 
Indian  nation,  about  two  leagues  on  the  east  hank  of  this  river, 
with  convenient  kills,  woods  and  tine  land,  which  it  would  also  be 
well  to  obtain.1'  He  also  says:  "William  van  Kasenberg,  who  came 
over  as  Surgeon,  puts  forth  sundry  claims  against  people  whom  ho 
attended  on  the  passage/'  the  earliest  record  of  this  kind,  "inas- 
much as  his  waves  did  not  run  at  the  time  and  on  the  voyage,  and 
he  used  his  own  provisions.  There  were  on  board  t  he  ship  consider- 

(g)    Albany  Uocords  of  1841.    .inn  Petersen's  will,  dated  April  10,  1640,  Is  Bald 
to  be  still  on    file  at  Albany,    N.   V. 
(h)    October  10.  i«;;,s 


20  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

able  sickness,  accidents  and  hardships  in  consequence  of  a  tedious 
voyage.  One  hundred  souls  required  at  least  a  hogshead  or  two  of 
French  wine  and  one  of  brandy,  and  a  tub  of  prunes  had  also  to  be 
furnished  for  refreshment  and  comfort  to  those  sick  of  scurvy  and 
suffering  from  other  troubles,  thro'  the  protracted  voyage;  for,  from 
want  thereof  the  people  became  so  low  that  death  followed,  which  is 
a  pretty  serious  matter.  Here,  on  shore,  I  see  clearly  that  the  poor, 
weak,  sick  or  indigent,  sometimes  have  need  necessarily  of  this  and 
that  to  support  them,  which  one  can  not  easily,  or  will  not,  refuse; 
though  it  be  sometimes  but  a  spoonful,  frequently  repeated,  it 
amounts  to  more  than  is  supposed.  The  barber  also  speaks  of  a 
house  which  Master  Jan  occupied  being  too  small  for  him;  he  hath 
a  wife,  servant  and  child  or  chiklren  also.  If  he  hire,  as  he  says,  at 
the  expense  of  the  city,  he  shall  be  obliged  to  show  a  paper  to  that 
effect."  He  had  occasion  also  to  say  in  another  letter  that  "our 
barber  surgeon"  died  and  "another  well  acquainted  with  his  pro- 
fession is  very  sick."  In  1660  a  surgeon  is  called  for  and  Pete* 
Tyneman  volunteers. 

From  these  quaint  pictures  of  the  Swedish  and  Dutch  settlers 
it  will  be  seen  how  low  was  the  standard  of  medicine  among  them. 
One  barber-surgeon,  too,  covered  a  wide  field  among  these  pioneers, 
so  that  scarcely  more  than  one  at  a  time  was  necessary  for  the 
"South  River"  settlements  for  the  next  score  of  years.  The  Swedes 
on  the  Schuylkill  were  a  simple  pastoral  people  and  the  illness  that 
did  not  respond  to  their  own  simple  remedies,  or  to  those  they 
obtained  from  the  friendly  Indians,  could  await  the  New  Amstel 
barber-surgeon's  arrival.  Little  as  they  left  of  medical  record,  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  one  family  among  them  is  linked  to  the 
present  in  having  as  a  representative  the  Nestor  of  Philadelphia 
medicine,  Dr.  Alfred  Stille.  On  Lindstrom's  map  of  what  is  now 
called  "the  neck"  is  Stille's  Land,"  the  property  of  Olaf  Person 
Stille',  said  to  be  one  of  the  colonists  of  1638,  and  which,  says  a 
biographer  of  the  family  (i)  "is  the  only  homestead,  Mr.  Watson 
informs  us,  now  known  of  any  of  the  Swedish  families  whose  names 

(i)    Hollingsworth  on  Moreton  Stille,  1856. 


I\  PHI  LA  DELPHI  \.  21 

are  on  the  list  taken  in  i  h<-  year  L693  for  the  Information  of  VVilliara 
J N-n n,"  over  ten  years  after  tie  established  the  city. 

In  the  v;in  of  ivini  came  some  agents  of  the  Free  Society  «»f 
Traders,  and  among  i  hem  was  John  Goodson  of  London,  chirurgeon 
to  thai  organization,  who  lirst  stopped al  Upland,  no^i  Chester,  and 
then  removed  to  Philadelphia.  Little  else  seems  to  be  known  ol 
him,  except  thai  "he  was  a  man  of  merit,  and  was  probably  the 
firsl  practicing  physician  in  Pennsylvania"  (j),  the  barbers  all  resid- 
ing at  New  Amstel.  Dr.  Nicholas  Moore,  the  president  of  the 
society,  was  also  a  physician,  but  little  is  known  of  him. 

With  the  arrival  of  Penn  in  1682,  the  barber-snrgeons  were 
overshadowed,  tho'  not  displaced,  by  an  entirely  different  class  of 
practitioners.  The  Swedes  were  simple  pioneers,  while  the  colony 
brought  by  Penn  was  made  up  largely  of  choice  British  stock  come 
to  found  a  British  "Brook  Farm,"  destined  to  a  success  not  usually 
accorded  to  Utopias.  The  Welsh  Quaker  medical  men  were  of  this 
fine  grade,  and  to  the  standard  set  by  them  is  in  no  small  degree 
due  the  high  professional  position  taken  by  Philadelphia  at  so  early 
a  date.  Their  names  were  enrolled,  with  some  others,  among  the 
list  (k)  of  first  purchasers  of  land  on  the  new  plat:  Thomas  Wynne 
of  Cajerwit,  in  the  County  of  Flint,  Chirurgeon;  Bugh  Chamberlain 
of  the  City  of  London,  Doctor  of  Physic;  Robert  Dimsdale  of  Ed- 
monton, in  the  County  of  Middlesex,  Chirurgeon;  John  Goodson 
of  London,  Chirurgeon;  Edward  Jones  of  Bala,  in  the  County  of 
Merioneth,  Chirurgeon;  Charles  Marshall  of  the  City  <>f  Bristol, 
Physician,  and  William  Russell  of  London,  Physician.  Griffith 
Owen  and  Thomas  Lloyd,  who  were  among  them,  seem  not  to  have 
been  among  the  first  purchasers.  Of  all  these,  however,  only  Dr. 
Edward  Jones,  who  had  direct  charge  of  the  Welsh  section  and 
came  first  in  August,  L682,  l>r.  Thomas  Wynne,  his  fat  her-imla  w  , 
and  Dr.  Griffith  Owen,  both  of  whom  came  on  the  Welcome  with 
Penn  two  months  later,  and  Thomas  Lloyd,  seem  to  have  become 
colonists,  for  little  is  known  of  John  <! Ison's  residence.     These 

<.p    Dr.  George  W.  Norris    "Early  History  of  Medicine  in   Philadelphia." 
iki    Published  by  John  Reed,  1774. 


22  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

were  personal  friends  and  admirers  of  Penn,  men  of  eminent  prac- 
tice in  Britain  and  of  the  highest  professional  training  of  London. 
Medicine  was  the  only  one  of  the  learned  professions  of  much 
esteem  among  the  Friends,  so  that  it  is  perfectly  natural  that  these 
chirurgeons  should  become  leaders  of  the  colonial  government. 
To  such  an  extent  was  this  carried  that  Thomas  Lloyd,  an  Oxford 
man,  became  the  first  deputy-governor,  and  did  not  practice  at  all, 
while  Dr.  Wynne  organized  and  became  president  of  the  first  As- 
sembly held  in  Philadelphia,  as  well  as  Judge  of  the  Principal 
Supreme  Court,  practicing  but  little  in  the  nine  years  of  his  resi- 
dence, for  his  death  occurred  in  March,  1691.  Dr.  Edward  Jones  and 
Dr.  Owen  were  also  members  respectively  of  the  Assembly  and  the 
Governor's  Council,  and  held  other  offices,  and  the  former  seems  to 
have  led  the  life  of  a  planter  and  public  man  with  but  little  atten- 
tion to  medicine  during  his  long  life  (1),  except  what  was  required 
for  the  training  of  his  son,  Dr.  Evan  Jones,  who  spent  a  portion 
of  his  career  in  Philadelphia  and  is  chiefly  known  by  his  being  the 
father  of  the  eminent  Xew  York  surgeon,  Dr.  John  Jones,  and 
the  preceptor  of  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader. 

Indeed,  "tender  Griffith  Owen,  who  both  sees  and  feels''  (m), 
was  the  first  well-known,  permanent,  practicing  physician  in  Penn- 
sylvania, where  he  spent  the  last  half  of  his  three-score-and-ten 
years  in  by  far  the  widest  and  most  valuable  practice  in  the  colony 
during  his  time.  This  was  of  course  not  confined  to  the  town  of 
about  seventy  houses  (n),  mostly  along  the  deep  Delaware  dock,  but 
extended  into  the  surrounding  country  and  settlements,  where  he 
was  always  welcomed  as  one  of  the  favorite  preachers  among  the 
Friends.  It  is  not  probable  that  it  was  very  exacting,  if  a  letter  (o) 
from  Xew  Jersey,  dated  in  16S5,  in  any  measure  describes  medical 
conditions  in  Penn's  colony.  "If  you  desire  to  come  hither  yourself 
you  may  come  as  a  Planter  or  Merchant,  but  as  a  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine I  cannot  advise  you ;  for  I  hear  of  no  diseases  here  to  cure  but 

(1)    He  died  in  1737. 

(m)    Letter  of  William  Penn. 

(n)    "Picture  of  Philadelphia,"'  by  Dr.  James  Mease. 

(6)    From  Charles  Gordon  of  Xew  Jersey  to  Dr.  John  Gordon  of  Montrose. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  J3 

some  Agues,  and  cutted  legs  and  fingers,  and  there  is  no  wnnt  of 
empirics  for  these  already)  I  confess  yon  could  do  more  than  anj 
yet  in  America,  being  rersed  both  in  chirurgery  and  Pharmacie, 
for  aere  are  abundance  of  curious  herbs,  shrubs  and  trees,  and  ao 
doubt  medicinal  ones  for  making  of  drugs,  bul  there  is  Little  or  ao 
employment  in  tliis  way."  Even  five  years  Inter  a  traveler  (p)  in 
i In- colony  writes:  "Of  lawyers  and  doctors  I  shall  say  nothing, 
because  the  conn  try  is  peaceable  and  healthy."  Owen  himself  seems 
to  bave  left  no  medical  records  ;ind  wlint  little  is  known  of  liis 
work  is  related  by  others.  Seventeen  years  had  passed  since  his 
coming,  when  i1  is  related  (q)  that  in  honor  of  a  second  visil  of  Penn 
from  England,  t  he  tiring  of  a  salute  led  to  the  accidental  injury  of 
a  young  man's  arm,  making  necessary  the  Jirst  recorded  amputa- 
tion in  the  colony:  It  was  "resolv'd  upon  by  Dr.  Griffith  Owen 
(a  Friend),  the  Surgeon,  and.  some  other  skillful  persons  present; 
which  accordingly  was  done  without  delay.  But  as  the  Arm  was 
cat  off,  some  Spirits  in  a  Bason  happened  to  take  Fire,  and  being 
spilt  upon  the  Surgeon's  Aprin,  set  his  Cloaths  on  fire;  and  there 
being  a  great  Crowd  of  Spectators,  some  of  them  in  the  Way,  and 
in  Danger  of  being  scalded,  as  the  Surgeon  himself  was  upon  the 
Hands  and  Face;  but  running  into  the  street,  the  Fire  was 
quenched;  and  so  quick  was  he  that  the  patient  lost  not  very  much 
Blood,  though  left  in  that  open,  bleeding  Condition."  It  was  dur- 
ing the  next  year,  1700  (r),  when  Philadelphia  had  about  700  houses 
about  the  Delaware  wharf,  that  the  first  quarantine  law  was 
passed,  but  whether  he  was  connected  with  it  or  not  is  unknown. 
During  the  first  seventeen  years  of  the  century,  he  was  growing 
old,  and,  having  taught  his  son,  Dr.  Griffith  Owen,  Jr.,  his  profes- 
sion, he  withdrew  more  and  more  from  practice  and  spent  much 
time  in  attending  Friends'  meetings.  The  son  seems  to  have 
been  a  child  of  his  later  years  and  did  not  long  survive  him,  Ilia 


ip)    Gabriel  Thomas,  1680. 

up    Journal  of  Thomas  Story.    The  landing  was  at  Chester  in  1699. 

(r)  Fellow  fever  or  Barbadoes  distemper  had  taken  off  about  220  the  previous 
year,  i>ui  Owen  leaves  n<<  record  of  It,  or  of  smnllpox,  which  came  <>n  the  vessel 
with  Penn, 


24  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

decease  having  occurred,  it  is  said,  in  1731,  at  an  early  age,  so  that 
in  the  elder  Owen's  later  years  his  practice  seems  to  have  been 
divided  among  several,  like  Edward  Jones  and  his  son,  Evan,  who 
had  other  interests,  or  a  few  less  known  men,  among  whom  are 
said  to  have  been  a  Dr.  Hodgson  and  John  Le  Pierre  (s),  the  latter 
having  an  inclination  to  alchemy,  according  to  popular  report.  At 
any  rate  when  the  gentle  and  lovable  Friend  preacher  and  physi- 
cian died  in  1717  the  most  prominent  figure  in  medicine  and  the 
dominance  of  the  Welsh  chirurgeons  were  gone. 

Their  real  successors  were  English  Episcopalians,  inasmuch  as 
on  one  of  them  fell  the  mantle  of  pre-eminence  as  a  practitioner. 
In  1711,  six  years  before  Owen's  death  and  the  next  year  after  the 
appearance  of  smallpox  in  this  port,  there  came  a  young  Londoner 
of  about  twenty-six  years,  vigorous,  talented,  of  liberal  education 
and  large  views,  fitted  to  become  one  of  the  typical  colonial  leaders. 
Dr.  John  Kearsley  was  born  in  England  in  1684  and  received  the 
best  medical  training  of  his  time.  Six  years  after  his  arrival,  the 
very  year  of  Dr.  Owen's  death  and  of  the  arrival  of  another  English 
Episcopalian,  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme,  he  had  be"come  so  eminent  and 
successful  that,  in  addition  to  an  extensive  practice,  he  had  begun, 
with  the  gentle  young  Zachary,  a  career  as  preceptor  of  young  native 
Americans  so  remarkable  as  almost  to  entitle  his  office  "the  first 
American  medical  college."  Out  of  it  came  some  of  the  most  not- 
able men  of  the  next  generation.  Quaint  John  Bard,  who  became 
famous  in  Xew  York,  and  whose  son,  Samuel,  was  the  founder  of 
the  first  medical  school  there,  was  one  of  them,  and,  according  to 
Thatcher,  found  Dr.  Kearsley's  interpretation  of  the  seven-year 
apprentice  system  of  England  both  onerous  and  exacting,  as  it 
seemed  to  include  the  duties  of  a  servant,  coachman,  messenger- 
boy,  prescription  clerk,  nurse  and  assistant  surgeon.  Young  John 
Redman,  who  afterwards  became  the  preceptor  of  Rush,  was 
another  "apprentice,"'  and  among  others  who  are  said  (t)  to  have 
listened  to  his  teachings,  though  not  as  apprentices,  probably, 

(s)    Scharf  and  Wescott,  1884. 

(t.i    Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell's  Commemorative  Address  of  1887. 


I  \   l-llll.  \  DELPHIA. 

are  young  Thomas  Cadwalader,  who  was  born  a  Bhorl  time  before 
Kearsley  arrived,  William  Shippen  and  Thomas  Bond,  both  born 
in  1712,  and  Phineas  Bond  and  Cadwalader  Evans,  slightly 
younger,  Dearly  all  <>r  whom  were  friends  of  tin-  inspiring  young 
prin i ci',  Franklin.  Among  them  also  was  his  nephew,  John  Blears- 
ley,  Jr.,  who  became  prominenl  and  contributed  one  of  the  first 
articles  (u)  i<»  a  foreign  journal  by  an  American  physician,  and 
whoso  s;i<!  ending  in  insanity  furnishes  the  firsl  tragedy  in  Phila- 
delphia's medical  history  and  one  of  the  firsl  of  the  Revolution. 
Butimportanl  as  was  Dr.  Kearsley's  teaching  in  itsextenl  and  con- 
sequent influence  on  the  city's  medical  development,  ii  was  inci- 
dental to  a  long  and  vigorous  life  in  a  large  practice  in  both  city 
and  country,  contemporary  with  that  of  his  students  almost  down 
to  the  Revolution,  and  was  mingled  with  civic  and  provincial 
activities  of  the  first  order.  "He  was  long  one  of  the  representa- 
tives for  the  city  in  the  House  of  Assembly,"  says  a  writer  of  the 
time  (v),  "and  distinguished  himself  so  much  in  every  debate  when 
the  liberty  or  interest  of  the  province  was  concerned,  thai  he  has 
often  been  borne  from  the  Assembly  to  his  own  house  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  people."  Talented  as  an  architect,  he  left  two 
aoble  monuments  of  his  activities  in  church  and  state,  one  none 
other  than  Independence  Hall  itself,  and  the  second,  ( Jhrisl  ( Jhurch, 
to  which  he  gave  both  substance  and  care  during  its  twenty  years 
of  building,  for  the  latter  was  designed  to  be,  and  was  for  long 
years  alter,  "equal  to  anything  of  the  kind  in  America."  It  was 
natural,  then,  that  as  a  hale  old  man  of  eighty-five,  when  making 
his  will,  his  three  great  interests  should  crystallize  into  a  public 
institution  so  characteristic  as  Christ  Church  Hospital  (w),  now 
one  of  the  oldest  in  the  city,  which  was  established  accordingly  at 
111  Arch  street,  soon  after  his  decease,  three  years  later,  early  in 
January,  1772. 


on    1769,  on  angina  maligna  which  prevailed  in  1746  and  1760. 
ivi    "The  Pennsylvania  Packet,"  13  January,  1772. 

iwi    Neither  iliis  nor  that  of  the  Friends'  Almshouse  were  hospitals  in  t  in  - 
recent  sense. 


26  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Spanning  almost  the  same  period  as  that  of  this  English  pre- 
ceptor's life  are  two  careers  of  medical  interest,  one  that  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Graeme,  1684  to  1772,  and  the  other  that  of  John  Bartram, 
1701  to  1777,  the  former  most  notable  in  the  early  quarantine 
service  and  the  latter  the  first  American  botanist.  Dr.  Graeme 
was  to  Deputy-Governor  Keith  much  what  Jones  and  Wynne  were 
to  William  Penn.  He  was  of  an  ancient  Perthshire  family,  had  a 
large  estate  in  Montgomery  County,  well-known  as  "Graeme  Park," 
held  many  prominent  positions,  but  the  most  distinctive  thing 
known  of  him  in  medicine,  aside  from  his  being  on  the  hospital 
staff,  is  his  occupation  of  a  position  corresponding  to  Port  Physi- 
cian. The  act  of  1700  seems  to  haye  been  spasmodically  effective 
until  about  1720,  in  which  year  the  Goyernor  gaye  notice  that  he 
had  appointed  Patrick  Baird,  chirurgeon,  to  carry  out  its  pro- 
visions. This  is  about  all  that  is  known  of  Dr.  Baird,  but  Dr. 
Graeme  seems  to  have  been  in  office  the  year  after  his  arrival  in 
1717,  and  in  1728  was  commissioned  together  with  Dr.  Lloyd 
'Za chary.  He  was  serving  as  late  as  1710,  and  seems  to  have  been 
occasionally  somewhat  of  a  bone  of  contention  in  the  struggles 
between  the  people  and  the  deputy-governor.  Wholly  unlike  the 
port  physician,  however,  and  far  more  widely  known  as  a  scientist, 
John  Bartram,  through  his  self-taught  acquaintance  with  materia 
medica  and  surgery,  became,  to  quote  the  words  of  Linnaeus  him- 
self, "the  greatest  natural  botanist  in  the  world.'"  His  well-known 
Botanical  Garden  on  the  Schuylkill  was  the  first  of  the  kind  in 
America,  and  his  contributions  to  that  science  led  to  his  being 
under  salary  from  the  British  Royal  Family  previous  to  the  Revo- 
lution. 

Philadelphia  was  growing  rapidly  and  by  the  end  of  ten  years 
after  Dr.  Baird  was  appointed  port  physician,  it  was  spreading 
north  and  south  along  the  wharf,  with  a  population  estimated  at 
12,000.  There  was  also  great  activity  in  medicine  abroad,  the 
Monros  having  returned  from  Leyden,  founded  the  medical  school 
of  Edinburgh  the  very  year  the  port  physician  was  appointed,  and 
the  time  was  now  coming  when  the  colony  should  no  longer  depend 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

upon  imported  physicians  uor  be  contenl  with  the  meager  advan- 
,  tages  of  the  practitioner's  apprenticeship  Bystem.  Rising  about 
Dr.  Kearsley  already  were  those  Dative  American  Btudents,  some 
of  whom  were  to  afford  themselves  additional  training  in  Europe, 
especially  in  London,  <- 1 ml  to  receive  a  stimulus  thai  destined  them 
to  overshadow  their  preceptors  and  dominate  ih<-  whole  medical 
atmosphere  of  Philadelphia.  The  eldest  and  first  of  these  favored 
eiies  to  begin  practice  was  the  gentle  and  gifted  Lloyd  Zachary,  a 
native  of  Boston,  born  in  1701,  though  reared  in  the  Quaker  City, 
grandson  of  the  one-time  Deputy-*  rovernor  Thomas  Lloyd.  Having 
gone  to  Europe  in  172.'>,  the  year  after  he  attained  his  majority,  he 
spent  three  years  in  study  and  returned  the  same  year  that  young 
Franklin  came  back  a  master  printer,  even  then  with  some  of  the 
power  that,  sixty  years  after,  led  Dr.  John  <\  Lettsom  of  London  to 
write  of  him:  "When  that  legion  of  science,  Dr.  Franklin,  arrives, 
which,  may  heaven  permit,  I  hope  ho  will  spread  an  intellectual 
shock  throughout  your  continent."  Dr.  Zachary  assumed  a  suc- 
cessful practice  ami  received  a  degree  of  consideration  that  gave 
him  position  among  the  older  men  and  a  worthy  seniority  among 
the  younger.  Within  two  years,  172S,  he  and  Dr.  Graeme  became 
port  physicians,  and  when,  in  1751,  the  first  hospital  was  organ- 
ized, he  and  two  younger  confreres  Mere  the  first  appointees  and 
secured  the  Assembly's  final  action  in  its  favor  by  offering  their 
services  free.  Although  during  three  of  his  remaining  five  years 
he  was  crippled  by  paralysis,  he  devoted  them  warmly  to  this  insti- 
tution until  his  death  in  1756,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five  years. 

Four  years  after  Zachary  began  practice  another  of  these 
young  men,  the  first  native  of  Pennsylvania  to  receive  his  medical 
education  abroad,  returned  from  London,  where  he  had  been  under 
the  tuition  of  the  celebrated  surgeon,  William  (heselden,  and  had 
witnessed  that  revival  of  surgery  which  was  to  result,  fifteen  years 
later,  in  a  rupture  of  the  ancient  alliance  of  the  Associations  of  Har- 
bors and  Surgeons.  This  was  young  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader,  who 
was  ouly  twenty-three,  born  in  1707,  in  Philadelphia,  and  yet  so  pro- 
ficient  in  dissection,  at    that    time  "rare  in    Europe  and   unknown 


28  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

in  America,"  that  students  and  physicians  alike  urged  him  to  give 
a  public  course  of  lectures  on  the  cadaver.  In  this,  William  Ship- 
pen,  who  was  but  five  years  older,  and  without  European  advan- 
tages, took  the  initiative.  "According  to  correct  information,"  says 
Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  in  1818,  "I  find  that  on  his  return  (x)  to  Philadel- 
phia he  made  dissections  and  demonstrations  for  the  instruction  of 
the  elder  Dr.  Shippen  and  some  others  who  had  not  been  abroad." 
These  were  given  in  Second  street  above  Walnut  on  the  site  of  the 
old  Bank  of  Philadelphia  (y),  and  were  the  first  public  medical 
lectures  and  dissections  in  America  (z).  Other  innovations  followed. 
In  1731  he  was  one  of  several  to  introduce  inoculation  for  small- 
pox (a)  and  is  said  to  have  written  on  the  subject;  eleven  years  later, 

'Xi  1730.  Through  some  error  the  dates  1750  and  1751  have  gained  a  good  deal 
of  currency. 

fy)    Watson's  Annals. 

(z)  The  earliest  known  efforts  at  the  institution  of  medical  lectures- in  Philadel- 
phia was  in  1717.  the  term  "physical  lectures,"  derived  from  physic,  being  applied 
to  them.  The  effort  was  made  by  Dr.  Cadwalader  Colden,  1688-1776,  who  was  a 
Scotchman  living  in  Philadelphia  from  1708  to  1718.  when  he  removed  to  New 
York,  the  seat  of  his  greatest  activity.  He  was  a  physician,  botanist  and  natural 
philosopher,  and  it  was  he  who  suggested  the  American  Philosophical  Society  to 
Franklin.  He  became  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New  York.  It  was  between  hi* 
twentieth  and  thirtieth  year  that  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  letter  of-  James 
Logan,  dated  "5th  month  1st  1717-1S,"  and  quoted  by  Librarian  F.  D.  Stone,  refers 
to  it  thus:  'All  I  know  of  that  bill  is  only  this.  He  (Colden")  came  to  me' one  day 
to  desire  my  opinion  of  a  proposal  to  get  an  Act  of  Assembly  for  an  allowance  to 
him  as  physician  for  the  poor  of  this  place.  I  told  him  I  thought  very  well  of  the 
thing,  but  doubted  whether  it  could  be  brought  to  bear  in  the  House.  Not  long 
after.  R.  Hill  showed  me  a  biJl  for  this  purpose,  put  in  his  hands  by  the  Governor, 
with  the  two  farther  provisions  in  it.  which  were,  that  a  public  physical  lecture 
should  be  held  in  Philadelphia,  to  the  support  of  which  every  unmarried  man. 
above  twenty-one  years,  should  pay  six  shillings  eightpence,  or  an  English  crown, 
yearly,  and  that  the  corpses  of  all  persons  whatever  that  died  here  should  be 
visited  by  an  appointed  physician,  who  should  receive  for  his  trouble  three  shillings 
and  fourpenee.  These  things  I  owned  very  commendable,  but  doubted  our  Assem- 
bly would  never  go  into  them,  that  of  the  lecture  especially."  Nothing  further 
is  known  of  the  effort. 

(a)  The  first  mention  of  inoculation  in  Philadelphia  is  as  follows,  in  the  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette  of  March,  1731:  ''The  practice  of  inoculation  for  the  smallpox 
begins  to  grow  among  us.  .T.  Growden,  the  first  patient  of  note  that  led  the  way, 
is  now  upon  the  recovery."  Dr.  Franklin  says  in  a  letter  that  about  fifty  were 
vaccinated  and  but  one.  a  child,  died.  Watson  says  that  Drs.  Kearsley,  Zachary. 
Cadwalader.  the  elder  Shippen,  Thomas  Bond  and  Dr.  Sommers  were 
the  only  physicians  who  inoculated,  as  Dr.  Graeme  was  himself  sick  during 
the  whole  epidemic.  In  1750  Dr.  Adam  Thompson,  of  whom  little  is  known,  gave  a 
public  lecture  in  the  Academy  on  a  method  of  preparing  for  inoculation  by  using 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

I7Il\  iii  ;i  inosi  interesting  case  of  mollities  ossium,  be  ma.de  1 1 1 * j- 
i'hsi  autopsy  for  purelj  scientific  purposes  in  America  (b).  Daring 
iliis  period  ;i  rery  prevalenl  disorder,  due  to  the  general  use  of 
punch  made  from  Jamaica  rum  distilled  in  Leaden  vessels,  drew 
from  him  studies  thai  revolutionized  the  treatmenl  of  the  "iliac 
passion,"  or  colica  pictonum,  ns  it  is  now  called.  The  original 
drafl  of  a  manuscripl  on  this  subjecl  may  be  seen  in  the  archives 
of  the  College  of  Physicians,  ns  well  as  I  he  only  extanl  copy  of  the 
double-preface  prinl  of  174.*>.  This  was  the  firs1  medical  work  pub- 
lished in  the  province  ;in<l  one  of  the  first  in  America,  s;u<l,  indeed, 
to  l»e  the  earliest  extant.  Its  title,  with  the  popular  name  ili<-n 
used,  is  "A ii  Essay  on  t  he  West  India  Dry-<  rripes;  with  t  he  ftfel  hod 
of  Prevent  Lng  and  ( luring  t  ha1  <  Jruel  I  Ustemper.  To  Which  is  added 
An  Extraordinary  Case  in  Physic"  (c),  "Printed  and  Sold  by  B. 
Franklin."  That  he  was  apprehensive  of  its  public  reception  among 
physicians  is  curiously  illustrated  l>.\  two  prefaces  of  the  same 
date,  .March  l'o,  1745  (d),  the  first  treating  chiefly  of  the  Horatian 
distinction  of  "a  critic  from  a  caviller;"  but  whether  tins  was  sup- 
pressed as  unwise,  in  the  midst  of  the  printing,  and  another  sub- 
stituted, it  is  certain  that  t  he  secem I  is  the  only  one  thai  appears  in 
most  copies.  In  this  he  says:  "I  have  long  been  of  opinion  thai  "lis 
the  duty  of  Physicians  to  frankly  communicate  to  the  world  any 

mercury  and  antimony,  which,  according  to  Dr.  J.  M.  Toner,  was  widely  iniluential. 
In  175C  Dr.  Lauchlin  Maclean  published  a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  which  was 
printed  by  Bradford,  a  copy  Of  which  is  in  the  Toner  collection.  Dr.  Maclean  was 
born  in  Ireland  about  172S,  graduated  In  medicine  at  Edinburgh  In  1758  and  came  to 
Philadelphia,  He  became  a  surgeon  in  Otway's  regiment  and  was  with  Wolfe  at 
Quebec.  He  was  the  friend  of  Goldsmith,  Burke  and   Wolfe,  and   was  believed   by 

many  to  be  the  author  of  the  Junius  letters,  m  afterward  became  a  public  man 
in  British  service  and  died  en  route  for  home  from  India  in  J 777. 

(b)    A  medico-legal  autopsy  was  made  In  New  York  In  1691. 

(e)  An  account  of  his  autopsy  case.  In  his  ••issues  of  the  Press  of  Phila- 
delphia," Mr.  Charles  R.  Hildeburn  mentions  a  notice  of  "An  Essay  on  the  nine 
Passion,  by  0.  Oolden,"  In  1741;  but  he  tells  the  writer  he  believes  himself  to  have 

been   misled   in  the  matter,  and   thai    it    is  an  error.      Dr.   <  'olden   had  lived   in   New 

York  since  1718.    The  ftrsl  printed  notice  of  medicine  In  the  province  seems  to  have 

been  in  Atkin'S  Almanac.   1685,  in  which  the  publisher  advertises  D   small   stoek  of 

remedies,  thus:  "Some  Experienced  Medicines,  sold  by  William  Bradford  at  Phila- 
delphia." 

Kb    lie  was  temporarily  at  Trenton  at  this  time. 


30  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

particular  Method  of  treating  diseases,  which  they  have  found  to 
be  successful  in  the  course  of  their  experience,  and  not  generally 
known  or  practiced  by  others.  By  this  the  medical  art  has  been 
and  may  still  be  improved.  Many  are  the  advantages  the  present 
age  reaps  from  such  disinterested  conduct  in  our  predecessors; 
and  where  we  have  freely  received,  surely  we  should  freely  give." 
He  also  adds:  "And  tho'  the  method  here  laid  down  may  be  new 
to  the  generality  of  the  profession,  it  has  been  practiced  some  years,, 
with  great  approbation,  by  several  gentlemen  of  distinguished 
character  in  Philadelphia"  (e).  The  work  was  well  received  both 
here  and  abroad,  for  so  late  as  1828  Dr.  Thatcher  writes:  "Dr. 
Rush  used  to  quote  it  constantly  in  his  lectures  with  praise.  In 
some  of  the  British  journals  this  practice  is  mentioned  as  the  most 
successful  in  England  and  in  those  countries  where  the  disease  still 
prevails"  (f).  Six  years  later  he  joined  the  Drs.  Bond  in  founding 
the  first  hospital  in  America,  and  was  one  of  its  medical  staff  during 
his  life,  and  the  same  year,  because  of  the  general  interest  in  elec- 
tricity awakened  by  Franklin  during  the  preceding  five  years,  was 
the  first  American  physician  to  use  that  agent  in  disease,  the  case 
being  that  of  Governor  Belcher  of  New  Jersey,  who  was  afflicted 
with  paralysis  (g).  He  was  an  active  trustee  and  clinical  lecturer 
in  the  first  medical  school  and  a  founder  of  the  first  medical  society 
in  1765,  as  well  as  of  the  first  medical  library  two  years  before. 
Indeed,  as  a  friend  and  kindred  spirit  of  Franklin,  who  was  only  a 
year  older,  he  was  partaker  in  almost  every  new  foundation  in  this 
fruitful  period  of  beginnings,  and  was  even  chosen  first  acting-presi- 
dent (as  vice-president)  of  the  new  American  Philosophical  Asso- 
ciation during  Franklin's  absence,  in  1769,  an  organization  always 
largely  influenced  by  physicians.  When,  in  1775,  four  years  before 
his  death,  there  appeared  for  use  of  surgeons  in  the  coming 
struggle,  the  first  American  surgical  work,  already  quoted,  by  his 
nephew  and  special  pupil,  Dr.  John  Jones,  the  eminent  Nevr  York 

(e)  In  the  copy  referred  to  the  first  preface  precedes  the  title  page. 

(f)  Thatcher's  Medical  Biography. 

(g)  From  an  account  in  manuscript  by  Dr.  Charles  E.  Gadwalader,  the  physi- 
cian's great-grandson. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  31 

Burgeon  and  the  physician  of  Washington,  his  influence  «vas  ac- 
knowledged in  its  dedication,  which  Bays:  "To  you,  whose  whole 
life  lias  been  one  continuous  scene  of  benevolence  and  humanity, 

the  most  feeble  efforts  i<>  soften  Imman  misery  and  smool  b  i  he  bed 
of  death,  will,  I  know,  be  an  acceptable  present,  however  short  t  he 
well-meant  zeal  of  the  author  may  fail  of  his  purpose"  (h).  Eighl 
years  after  his  death,  whi<h  occurred  in  November,  lTT'.i,  in  the 
mhlsi  of  the  contention  about  the  commission  of  medical  examin- 
ers that  occupied  him  even  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-two,  Dr. 
John  Redman,  in  his  inaugural  as  lirst  president  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,  paid  the  following  fine  tribute  to  "one,  whoso  person, 
age,  character  and  medical  ability  and  respectable  deportment  to 
and  among  us,  as  well  as  his  generous,  just  and  benevolent  temper 
of  mind  and  great  acquaintance  with  books  and  men  and  things, 
and  proper  attention  to  time  and  seasons,  would,  I  am  persuaded, 
have  pointed  him  out  as  our  first  object."  He  owns  there  is  no  need 
to  mention  his  name,  "but  I  naturally  recollect  with  pleasure  the 
name  of  our  worthy  and  well-respected  brother  and  much-esteemed 
friend  Thomas  Cadwalader,"  whom  "it  would  have  been  the  highest 
gratification  to  me,  as  I  believe  it  would  to  all  who  knew  him,  to 
have  given  our  suffrages  unanimously  to  place  him  at  the  head  of 
such  an  institution." 

Great  contributor  as  he  was  to  the  progress  of  medicine,  he 
was  still  greater  as  a  man.  It  would  be  interesting,  were  this  the 
place,  to  consider  the  eminent  family  to  which  he  belongs,  one  of 
the  first  in  national  history,  and  to  recount,  his  own  activities,  as 
prominent  as  they  were  far-reaching,  suggesting  Rush  in  his  wide 
interests,  Franklin  in  his  secret  management  of  events,  and  Wash- 
ington in  his  judicial  poise  as  a  leader.  "Kadwaladyr"  means 
"arranger  of  battles,"  a  name  peculiarly  applicable  to  him,  since 
he  was  chairman  of  the  provincial  board  of  war  almost  continu- 
ously from  the  French  war  of  1755  to  near  the  close  of  his  life  (i). 

(hi  i>r.  Jones,  i tl". »  to  '91,  spent  his  early  years  and  eleven  .it  the  close  of  his 
life  in  Philadelphia,  i>nt  became  Famous  Id  New  York. 

(ii  It  is  Interesting  i<>  note  thai  a  young  student  of  Dr.  Redman  sp  >nt  tour  years 
in  the  war  as  a  surgeon  and  bore  the  title  of  Lieutenant  John  Morgan,  his  com- 
mission dated   April    1.    1758. 


32  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Twelve  years  after  Dr.  Oadwalader  began  practice,  and  while 
the  young  native  American  physicians,  Za chary,  Shippen  and  the 
Bonds,  were  showing  their  power,  the  increased  immigration  from 
various  regions  and  the  consequent  introduction  of  such  "distem- 
pers," as  smallpox,  yellow  fever  and  the  like,  alarmed  the  mer- 
chants and  prompted  the  Assembly  to  take  some  measures  of  quar- 
antine to  prevent  their  introduction.  An  act  of  February  3,  1743, 
secured  Province  Island,  a  part  of  the  west  bank  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Schuylkill,  on  which  lazaretto  buildings  were  erected  and 
ships  ordered  to  stop  there.  Various  temporary  measures  were 
taken  for  the  care  of  the  sick  who  landed  before  and  after  this  time. 
Almshouses  were  established  by  the  Friends  and  by  the  city,  and 
as  a  matter  of  course,  some  provisions  for  the  sick  were  required 
in  them,  but  there  was  one  of  these  young  physicians  who,  in  his 
considerable  visitation  among  the  needy,  for  which  he  was  espe- 
cially known,  conceived  the  idea  of  bringing  them  together  in  one 
place  as  a  permanently  instituted  hospital.  Heretofore  medicine 
had  been  dependent  on  individuals  and  rose  and  fell  with  them, 
but  to  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  belongs  the  honor  of  first  (j)  introducing 
the  permanency  of  institutions  into  the  medical  history  of  this  city 
and  the  founding  of  the  oldest  independent  hospital  in  the  United 
States  (k). 

Dr.  Bond  was  born  in  Calvert  County,  Maryland,  in  1712,  and 
studied  medicine  undera  Scotch  physician  there,  Dr.  Hamilton, 
but  afterwards  supplemented  this  instruction  by  attendance  upon 
lectures  in  Europe,  especially  at  the  Hotel  Dieu  in  Paris.  In  1731 
ill,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  returned  to"  Philadelphia  and  soon 
became  active  in  his  profession  and  in  various  enterprises  of  a 

(j)  In  1709,  on  the  "25th  of  the  ninth  month,"  a  meeting  of  Friends  voted  monejr 
toward  negotiating  with  the  proprietary  "for  an  Hospital."  but  it  seems  not 
to  have  succeeded,  and  in  1712  the  city  began  arrangements  for  an  almshouse.  Be- 
fore they  completed  them  the  Friends'  Almshouse  was  started,  but  had  no  real  hos- 
pital department.  The  city's  almshouse,  now  the  Philadelphia  Almshouse,  had  its 
first  structure  completed  about  1781.  and  had  a  hospital  department.,  the  oldest  in 
the  colonies. 

(k)  Some  authorities  speak  of  Catholic  hospitals  in  Canada  and  possibly  in 
Mexico  as  slightly  older. 

(1)    Dr.  G.  W.  Norris,  Morton  and  Woodbury  give  it  two  years  earlier. 


iv  PHILADELPHIA. 

public  character  w  bicb  were  founded  in  thai  period.  It  was  abort 
the  end  of  his  sixteenth  year  of  practice,  L750,  thai  be  decided  to 
take  measures  toward  securing  the  foundation  of  .1  hospital.  En- 
listing the  aid  of  Dr.  Zachary  ;ui<l  Dr.  Phineas  Bond,  his  younger 
brother,  men  of  ;i  character  uol  unlike  his  own,  efforts  were  made 
h>  launch  the  project.  "He  was  zsealous  and  active  in  endeavoring 
to  procure  subscriptions  for  it,"  writes  Franklin  in  his  auto- 
biography, "'liui  the  proposal  being  a  novelty  in  America,  and  ;ii 
lii-si  uol  well  understood,  he  mel  with  bul  little  success.  Ai  Length 
he  came  to  me  with  the  compliment,  thai  be  found  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  carrying  a  public-spirited  projeel  through  without 
my  being  concerned  in  it.  'For.'  be  said,  'I  am  often  asked  by  those 
to  whom  1  propose  subscribing,  "Have  you  consulted  Franklin  <m 
this  business?  And  what,  does  he  think  of  it?"  And  when  I  tell 
them  I  have  not  (supposing  it  rather  out  of  your  line),  they  do  uol 
subscribe,  but  say  they  will  consider  it/'  Franklin  beaded  the 
subscription  and  when  he  saw  it  needed  provincial  aid  prompted 
a  petition  to  the  Assembly  on  January  29,  1751,  asking  for  a  place 
for  the  insane  and  those  "whose  Poverty  is  made  more  miserabl 
by  the  additional  Weight  of  a  grevious  disease,  from  which  they 
might  easily  be  relieved,  if  they  were  not  situated  at  too  ureal  a 
Distance  from  regular  Advice  and  Assistance,  whereby  many  lan- 
guish out  their  lives,  tortured  perhaps  with  the  Stone,  devour'd 
by  the  Cancer,  deprived  of  sight  by  Cataracts,  or  gradually  decay- 
ing by  loathsome  distempers;  who,  if  the  expense  in  the  present 
manner  of  Nursing  and  Attending  t  hem  separately  when  t  hey  come 
to  town  were  not  so  discouraging, might  again, by  the  judicious  As- 
sistance of  Physic  and  Surgery,  be  enabled  to  taste  the  Blessings 
of  Health,  and  be  made  in  a  few  Weeks  useful  Members  of  the 
Community,  able  to  provide  for  themselves  and  Families."  A  bill 
was  prepared,  but  objections  were  offered,  the  chief  being  expense 

for  surgeon's  fees,  which  was  met  by  these  three  physicians  offer- 
ing three  years'  service  free,  thereby  also  establishing  a  precedent, 
and  the  bill  was  approved  on  the  1  1 1 1 1  of  May.  In  October  the  old 
Judge  John  Kinsey  mansion,  on  the  south  side  of  Market  below 
3 


34  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Seventh  (m)  was  secured  temporarily,  under  the  direction  of  Israel 
Pemberton  and  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  and  on  February  10,  1752,  the 
managers  of  the  medical  staff  invited  those  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed consultants,  Drs.  Graeme,  Cadwalader,  Moore  (n)  and  Eed- 
man,  to  act  on  the  first  applications  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 
The  first  patient  and  first  cured  was  Margaret  Sherlock.  The 
present  site  at  Spruce,  Pine,  Eighth  and  Ninth  streets  was  secured 
two  years  later. 

From  circumstances  and  ability  as  well,  Dr.  Bond  continued 
to  be  the  most  prominent  figure  at  the  hospital  for  many  years. 
In  1753  he  reported  a  peculiar  case  of  a  worm  in  the  liver  to  "Medi- 
cal Observations  and  Inquiries,"  a  London  journal,  and  sent  the 
specimen  to  Dr.  William  Hunter  of  that  city.  He  was  distinguished 
for  his  skill  in  surgery,  and  his  operation  of  lithotomy  in  1756  on 
the  first  case  of  stone  at  the  hospital  is  the  first  record  of  this  opera- 
tion in  America,  antedating  that  in  New  York  by  four  years.  His 
subsequent  cases  of  lithotomy  were  numerous.  Three  years  later 
he  published  a  paper  in  London  on  the  use  of  Peruvian  bark  in 
scrofula,  and  ten  years  later,  when  the  new  medical  school  was 
begun,  its  founder  requested  him  to  give  the  first  regular  clinical 
lectures  in  America  at  the  hospital  he  had  established.  Fortunately 
his  words  inaugurating  them  have  been  preserved. 

"When  I  consider  the  skillful  hands  the  practice  of  Physic 
and  Surgery  has  of  necessity  been  committed  to  in  mam^  parts  of 
America,"  said  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  on  the  26th  of  November,  at  his 
home  (o),  in  his  introductory  lecture  to  his  clinical  course  which  be- 
gan at  Pennsylvania  Hospital  on  December  3,  1766,  "it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  behold  so  many  worthy  young  men,  training  up  in  those 
professions,  which,  from  the  nature  of  their  objects,  are  the  most  in- 
teresting in  the  community,  and  yet  a  greater  pleasure  in  foreseeing, 
that  the  unparalleled  public  spirit  of  the  good  people  of  this  prov- 

(m)    Old  number,  172  High  (Market)  Street. 

(n)  Samuel  Preston  Moore,  1710-1 TS5,  was  consultant  until  1759,  and  served 
as  Provincial  Treasurer  for  fourteen  years. 

fo)  Drs.  Redman,  Cadwalader,  Shippen  and  the  Managers  were  present  with 
thirty  students. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

ince,  will  shortly  make  Philadelphia  the  Athens  of  America  and 
render  the  sons  of  Pennsylvania  reputable  amongst  the  most  cele- 
brated Europeans  in  all  the  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences.    This,  I  am 

;ii  present  certain  <»t',  Mint  the  institutions  of  literature  and  charity 
already  founded,  and  the  Srhool  of  Physic  lately  opened  in  ilii> 
city,  afford  sufficient  foundation  for  the  students  of  Physic  to  ac- 
quire all  the  knowledge  necessary  for  I  heir  practicing  every  branch 

of  i heir  profession  reputably  and  judiciously.  The  great  expense 
in  going  from  America  to  England,  and  thence  from  country  t<» 
country,  and  college  to  college,  in  quest  of  medical  qualifications, 
is  often  a  bar  to  the  cultivation  of  the  brightest  geniuses  amongsl 
us,  who  otherwise  might  be  moving  stars  in  their  professions,  and 
most  useful  members  of  society.''  He  farther  on  points  out  where 
"the  clinical  professor  comes  in  to  the  aid  of  speculation  and  dem- 
onstrates the  truth  of  theory  by  facts,"  and  promises  "to  show  you 
all  the  operations  of  Surgery  and  endeavor,  from  the  experiences 
of  thirty  years,  to  introduce  you  to  a  familiar  acquaintance  with 
the  acute  diseases  of  our  own  country,"  notwithstanding  "the 
season  of  my  life  points  out  relaxation  and  retirement."  The  hos- 
pital afforded  an  average  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  patients  at 
that  time,  and  had  averaged  over  one  hundred  for  two  years.  It 
was  now  fifteen  years  since  Dr.  Bond  had  proposed  the  institution 
to  Franklin,  and  it  was  eminently  fitting  that  he  should  begin  tin- 
list  of  its  great  clinical  teachers. 

Six  years  later  a  contemporary  writer  (p)  describes  him  at  an 
operation:  "I  had  the  curiosity  last  week  to  be  present  at  the  hos- 
pital, at  Dr.  Bond's  cutting  for  stone,  and  was  agreeably  dis- 
appointed, for  instead  of  seeing  an  operation  said  to  be  perplexed 
with  difficult}'  and  uncertainty,  and  attended  with  violence  and 
cruelty,  it  was  performed  with  such  ease,  regularity  and  success, 
that  it  scarcely  gave  a  shock  to  the  most  sympathizing  bystander, 
the  whole  being  completed  and  a  stone  two  inches  in  length  ami 
one  in  diameter  extracted  in  less  than  two  minutes."  The  enthusi- 
astic visitor  was  ready  to  rank  such  surgery  with  the  tine  arts. 
(p)    Letter  quoted  by  Dr.  G.  W.  Norris  and  written  in  1772. 


3G  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

His  medical  skill  was  no  less  remarked  upon.  He  introduced  hot 
and  cold  bathing  in  treatment  far  more  than  anyone  else,  and  was 
the  first  to  secure  the  general  use  of  mercury  among  the  profession 
of  the  city.  Even  so  early  as  December  4,  1776,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two,  he  offered  his  own  and  his  son's  (q)  services  for  hospital 
duty  to  the  Committee  of  Safety,  and  both  did  excellent  work. 
It  will  be  recalled  that  he  was  one  of  the  original  founders  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  and  its  first  vice-president  in 
1743,  and  in  1782  delivered  before  it  an  address  on  "The  Eank  of 
Man  in  the  Scale  of  Being,  and  the  Conveniences  and  Advantages 
He  Derives  from  the  Arts  and  Sciences."  He  was  also  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  college  out  of  which  came  the  University,  and  yet 
when,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two,  he  passed  away,  March  26,  1784, 
his  greatest  honor  lay  in  being  the  founder  of  the  oldest  hospital  (r) 
and  the  first  clinical  instruction  in  the  republic. 

So  intimately  was  his  brother,  Dr.  Phineas  Bond,  associated 
with  him  in  all  these  enterprises  of  medical  and  general  progress, 
that  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  where  the  one  was  there  was  the 
other  also.  He  was  five  years  younger  than  Thomas  and  only  lived 
fifty-six  years,  dying  in  1773,  after  a  life  so  refined  and  scholarly 
that,  writes  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  no  member  of  the  profession  in  the 
state  "ever  left  behind  him  a  higher  character  for  professional 
sagacity,  or  for  the  amiable  qualities  of  the  heart."  His  education 
had  been  received  in  their  Maryland  home  and  in  Europe,  where 
he  spent  even  more  time  than  did  Thomas,  and  visited  Leyden, 
Paris,  London  and  Edinburgh.  His  practice  was  extensive  and 
purely  medical.  His  service  at  the  hospital  covered  twenty-two 
years.  He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  first  American 
Philosophical  Society,  and  is  happily  remembered  as  one  of  the 
three  or  four  organizers  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  now  the 
University,  in  which  was  soon  to  appear  still  greater  medical 
progress. 

(q)    Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  Jr. 

(r)    Only  four  yearn  later  an  eminent  French  traveler,  M.  de  Warville,  wrote  so 
highly  of  it  that  he  said  there  was  but  one  in  France  to  compare  with  it. 


l\   PHILADELPHIA. 

Another  member  of  the  hospital  staff  passed  away  the  same 
year  1 177:'.),  at  almosl  exactly  the  same  age  (s)  as  Phineas  Bond,  one 
to  whom,  according  to  the  statemenl  <>!'  Franklin,  is  due  the  honor  of 
having  proposed  the  firsl  medical  library.    This  was  Cadwalader 
Evans,  who,  after  his  studies  under  Thomas  Bond,  had  his  Atlantic 
voyage  interrupted  by  a  vessel  of  one  of  I he  i luce  warring  pofl  ers, 
Spain,  Prance  and  ESngland,  and  was  persuaded  to  live  in  Hayti 
awhile  and  to  spend  two  years  of  practice  in  Jamaica  before  finish- 
ing  his  studies  iu  Edinburgh  and  London.    He  Ite-an  ;i  lite  service 
on  the  hospital  stall'  in  17.7.>,  and  three  years  later  was  n.»  doubt 
Impressed,  as  others  were,  by  a  present  received  by  the  institution 
from  a   famous  physician  of  London,  Dr.  John    Fothergill.     This 
was  a  book  recently  published  there,  "An  Experimental  History  of 
the  Materia.  Medica,  by  William   Lewis,  P.   K.  S."     It  -was   pre- 
sented for  the  use  of  students  of  the  hospital  and  was  prompted  by 
the  doctor's  Franklinian  purposes  for  medicine  in  general  and  also, 
no  doubt,  by  his  friendship  for  the  brilliant  son  of  Dr.  William 
Shippen,  Sr.,  who  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  managers  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  hospital  medical  staff.    This  was  in  July,  1762,  and  in 
May  of  the  following  year  Dr.  Evans"  proposal  bore  fruit  in  an  offer 
of  the  medical  stall"  to  use  student  fees  for  the  founding  of  a  library. 
It  was  signed,  in  order,  by  Drs.  Thomas  Bond,  Thomas  ( Jadwalader, 
Phineas  Bond  and  Cadwalader  Evans,  and,  being  accepted,  the 
library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  was  soon,  and  for  long  years, 
the  best  in  the  land. 

This  little  incident  of  the  book,  with  its  connection  with  Dr. 
Fothergill  and  theShippens  in  1 7<»:2  binds  together  three  most  inter- 
esting characters  in  the  inception  of  medical  education  in  America. 
and  most  happily  associates  them  with  the  noble  monument  of  Dr. 
Bond,  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  It  may  also  serve  to  usher  into 
the  medical  field  a  new  generation,  some  of  whose  members  are 
destined  to  outshine  all  their  predecessors  in  the  history  of  the 
profession  on  t  his  continent. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  one  of  the  managers  of  the  hospital  at 
i^i    Fifty-seven  years. 


33  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

this  date,  Dr.  William  Shippen,  Sr.,  was,  about  thirty  years  before, 
one  of  the  first  native  American  students  who  was  unable  to  finish 
his  studies  abroad,  and  that  it  was  his  keen  realization  of  his  loss 
that  led  him  to  urge  his  fellow  student,  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader, 
to  give  the  first  public  medical  lectures  in  America.  He  was  five 
years  younger  than  Cadwalader,  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1712, 
where  he  received  both  his  liberal  and  professional  education.  He 
seems  to  have  served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  office  of  the  Kears- 
leys,  though  most  accounts  of  his  life  contain  no  reference  to  the 
fact  (t),  and,  according  to  excellent  authority  (u),  under  Dr.  Cad- 
walader s  direction,  "he  took  lessons  in  Anatomy  and  became,  by 
study,  a  proficient  in  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy.'"  At  the  age 
of  forty-one  he  became  one  of  the  staff  of  the  hospital  and  served 
until  his  resignation  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  when  he  had 
already  retired  from  an  extensive  practice  of  the  highest  reputa- 
tion. Though  he  lived  to  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  dying 
in  1801,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  a 
vice-president  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  a  founder  of 
the  College  of  New  Jersey,  now  Princeton  University,  a  trustee  of 
the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  with  even  more  honors,  there  was 
nothing  that  so  characterized  him  as  the  love  for  higher  education 
in  medicine,  born  of  his  own  regrets,  and  his  purpose  to  train  up 
his  son,  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  to  the  same  profession  and  with  the 
highest  advantages  that  Europe  could  afford.  Indeed,  some  emi- 
nent authorities  (v)  have  intimated  the  probability  that  he  trained 
his  son  with  the  definite  hope  of  his  becoming  a  public  lecturer 
on  medicine,  which  would  be  wholly  in  keeping  with  the  oratorical 
powers  already  displayed  by  the  young  man  while  in  Princeton. 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  interesting  to  notice  the  proceed- 
ings of  a  meeting  of  the  hospital  managers  in  the  Warden's  room 
of  the  Court  House,  the  8th  of  "the  11th  month,  1762,"  with  the 

(t)    Morton  and  Woodbury  say  he  studied  with  Dr.  John  Kearsley.  Jr. 
fu)    Dr.  Caspar  Wistar's  Eulogium.  1309. 

(v)    Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  and  Dr.  Joseph  Carson;  "but,"  says  the  former.  "I  have 
heard  nothing  in  support  of  this  opinion.'' 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

medical  shii'f  present,  the  Drs.  Bond,  Dr.  Shippen,  Sr.,  l>r.  Redman 
and  I >r.  Evans,  ;i  meeting  called  "al  the  requesl  of  Doc'r  William 
Shippen,  Jun'r,  Lately  arrived  i\\  i  From  London"  (x).  He  informed 
them  that  there  had  arrived  seven  cases  containing  anatomical 
drawings  and  models  for  the  hospital  from  his  friend  Dr.  John 
Pothergill  <>f  London,  who  had  given  him  some  verbal  directions 
concerning  them,  and  thai  tie  wished  permission  to  use  them  in 
connection  with  a  private  school  of  anatomy  he  should  open  during 
the  season,  a  letter  from  Dr.  Pothergill  to  James  Pemberton,  dated 
i  In-  Tt  1 1  of  the  li  1 1  month  preceding,  was  read,  ;i  pari  <>r  which  says: 
'•I  propose  to  send  by  Dr.  Shippen  ;i  present  to  it.  (the  hospital),  of 
some  intrinsic  value  (y),  though  not  probably  of  immediate  benefit 
I  need  not  tell  thee  that  the  knowledge  of  Anatomy  is  of  exceeding 
great  use  to  Practitioners  in  Physic  and  Surgery,  and  thai  the 
means  of  procuring  subjects  with  yon  are  not  easy.  Some  pretty 
accurate  anatomical  drawings  about  half  as  big  as  life  have  fallen 
into  my  hands,  and  which  I  purpose  to  send  to  your  hospital,  to  fu- 
made the  care  of  the  physicians  and  to  he  by  some  of  them  ex- 
plained to  the  students  or  pupils  who  may  attend  tin-  hospital.  In 
the  want  of  real  subjects  these  will  have  their  use,  and  I  recom- 
mend it  to  Dr.  Shippen  to  give  a  course  of  anatomical  lectures  to 
such  as  may  attend.  He  is  well  qualified  for  the  subject  and  will 
soon  be  followed  by  an  able  assistant,  Dr.  Morgan,  both  of  whom,  I 
apprehend,  will  not  only  be  useful  to  the  province  in  their  employ- 
ment, but,  if  suitably  countenanced  by  the  Legislature,  will  be 
able  to  erect  a  school  for  Physic  amongst  you  that  may  draw  many 
students  from  various  parts  of  America  and  the  West  Indies,  and 
at.  least  furnish  them  with  a  bettor  idea  of  the  rudiments  of  their 
profession  than  they  have  at  present  tin-  moans  of  acquiring  on 
your  side  of  the  water"  (z).  The  cases  were  opened  the  next  day  and 
found  to  contain  eighteen  crayon  drawings,  three  cases  of  anatomi- 
cal  models,  a  skeleton  and  a   fo-tns  model,  of  which    Dr.  Caspar 

i  w  i  Ee  arrived  in  .May  of  thai  year  iWlstar). 

(x)  The  spelling  of  these  minutes  is  not  used  farther. 

(y)  The  drawings  were  estimated  al  C350  value  in  ill-'  hospital  Btock. 

(z)  History  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  Morton  and  Woodbury,  1885. 


40  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Wistar  writes:  "Dr.  Fotliergill  "employed  Rimsdyck,  one  of  the  first 
artists  of  Great  Britain,  to  execute  the  crayon  paintings  now  at 
onr  hospital,  which  exhibit  the  whole  structure  of  the  body  at  two- 
thirds  the  natural  size;  and  the  gravid  uterus,  with  many  of  the 
varied  circumstances  of  natural  and  preternatural  parturition,  of  the 
full  size.  Jenty,  an  anatomist  of  London,  is  said  to  have  made  the 
dissections  from  which  these  paintings  were  taken."  These  were 
not  the  first  signs  of  interest  in  a  teaching  museum  at  the  hospital, 
however,  for  so  early  as  April,  1757,  Deborah  Morris  gave  a  skele- 
ton for  that  purpose,  the  first  gift  of  this  kind  recorded,  and  the 
real  beginning  of  the  first  medical  museum. 

Dr.  John  Fothergillhad  been  a  substantial  friend  of  thehospital 
long  before  this  letter.  The  influence  of  such  a  friend  at  this  stage 
of  medical  progress  is  of  no  indifferent  interest.  A  Yorkshire  Quaker 
of  the  same  age  as  the  elder  Shippen,  he  was  educated  by  those 
able  founders  of  the  Edinburgh  medical  school,  headed  by  Monro, 
whose  attention  he  attracted  from  the  first.  He  graduated  in  1738 
and  began  practice  in  London  in  1740.  By  1748  his  publications 
had  given  him  European  fame,  and  his  mind  touched  so  many  sides 
of  progress  that  probably  no  man  of  his  time  could  be  said  more 
truly  to  be  a  medical  Franklin.  When  he  died  in  1780,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-eight,  he  was  president  of  the  Medical  Society  of  London, 
and  medical  education  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  with  both 
of  whose  colleges'  foundations  he  was  associated,  lost  a  valuable 
friend.  His  instinct  to  discover  talent  in  young  men  was  not  less 
than  his  power  to  inspire  them  with  the  fructifying  suggestiveness 
that  characterized  his  own  mind.  It  is  of  the  greatest  significance 
and  importance  that  the  first  of  the  new  generation  of  Philadelphia 
physicians  should  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  enjoy  the  friend- 
ship of  such  a  man  and  to  partake  of  his  spirit.  ■ 

William  Shippen,  Jr.,  was  twenty-six  years  old  as  he  stood 
before  the  hospital  board,  proposing  the  first  foundation  of  sys- 
tematic public  lectures  on  Anatomy  in  the  province  (a),  and  prob- 


<&)    Dr.  William  Hunter  gave  anatomical  lectures  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  in 
tbe  years  17.j4-u-0:  he  was  a  relative  of  the  Hunters  of  London  (Carson). 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  II 

ably  the  lirsi  <>ii  the  continent  in  Obstetrics,  and  he  was  undoubt- 
edly the  first  who  had  the  purpose  of  inaugurating  medical  school 
education  in  the  Colonies,  as  distinguished  from  the  apprentice 
system.  Born  in  Philadelphia  on  October  21,  I7::i>,  he  had  been 
carefully  educated  under  Mr.  Finley,  afterward  president  of  the 
College  of  New  Jersey,  now  Princeton  University,  and  also  at  the 
latter  institution  under  the  presidency  of  Burr  in  17.~»1.  where  he 
graduated  with  high  honor  as  valedictorian.  His  oratorical  qual- 
ities were  so  remarkable  on  this  occasion  thai  the  great  evangelist, 
Whitefield,  who  was  attending  the  commencement  there,  desired 
to  win  him  for  the  ministry.  Enstead,  however,  he  returned  to 
Philadelphia  and  at  once  began  the  study  of  his  chosen  profession 
under  his  father.  After  three  years  thorough  work  he  went  to  Lou- 
dun  in  the  autumn  of  lToT  and  at  once  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
established  in  the  home  of  the  Hunters,  under  tin-  direction  of  Ids 
younger  brother,  John,  who  then  assisted  Dr.  William  Hunter  in 
anatomy.  He  also  had  the  friendship  and  instruction  of  William 
Hewson,  who  assisted  the  Hunters  for  a  time,  and  there  began  his 
intimate  relations  with  Dr.  Pothergill.  Here,  too,  he  attended  the 
lectures  of  the  accomplished  accoucheur,  Dr.  McKenzie,  and  be- 
came so  interested  in  obstetrics  that  he  resided  in  the  poor  quar- 
ter in  order  to  have  greater  advantages  in  thai  practice,  aud 
it  was  undoubtedly  at  this  time  that  his  preferences  for  that 
branch  were  determined.  From  London  he  went  to  Edinburgh  and 
there  became  much  attached  to  Cnllen  and  the  younger  Monro, 
graduating  under  their  instruction  in  17(H,  with  the  very  charac- 
teristic thesis:  l>(  Placentae  cum  I  i<  ro  Vean*.  Desiring  to  go  to 
Paris,  but  encountering  obstacles  due  to  the  existing  war.  his 
friend.  Sir  John  Pringle,  secured  his  services  as  medical  attendant 
for  a  wealthy  lady  who  was  about  to  travel  in  Southern  France.  By 
this  menus  he  gained  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  a  number  of 
Parisian  physicians,  among  whom  was  the  well-known  Senac.  » 'n 
his  return  to  America  in  May,  1762,  he  began  practice  with  his 
father  and  opened  the  way  for  a  private  school  of  anatomy  and 
midwifery  in  the  fall,  as  soon  as  the  season  should  warrant.    The 


42  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

time  was  ripe  for  it;  indeed,  to  use  the  words  of  Dr.  Wistar,  "we 
must  conclude  that  Shippen  could  not  have  fixed  upon  any  part  of 
the  new  world,  which,  at  that  time,  was  more  promising  than 
Philadelphia.  He  was  not  disposed  to  neglect  any  of  these  advan- 
tages." He  was  equal  to  the  situation,  too:  "Xature,"  says  the 
same  writer,  ''had  been  uncommonly  bountiful  in  his  form  and 
aspect;  his  manners  were  extremely  elegant;  his  pronunciation 
was  fine;  he  belonged  to  a  family  proverbial  for  good  temper;  his 
father,  during  his  long  life  of  ninety  years,  had  scarcely  ever  been 
out  of  humor,  and  he  had  a  strong  resemblance  to  his  father.  Tn 
his  intercourse  with  men  he  was  perfectly  at  his  ease  with  the 
most  stately — he  could  converse  with  the  most  ignorant  so  as  to 
make  them  easy,  but  without  affecting  ignorance  himself;  he  could 
mix  with  the  lowest  orders  of  society  without  imposing  a  painful 
restraint  on  them,  while  he  preserved  the  manners  of  a  well-bred 
gentleman.  He  was  also  particularly  agreeable  to  young  people. 
At  this  period  he  was  known  to  almost  every  citizen  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  yet  it  is  probable  that  there  was  no  one  who  did  not  wish 
him  well.  This  portrait  is  strongly  colored,  but  there  are  yet  (b) 
many  amongst  us  who  remember  the  original,  and  to  them  appeal 
for  its  truth." 

Br.  Shippen  undoubtedly  believed  that  Philadelphia  was  ready 
to  at  least  lookforward  toa  fully  equipped  medical  school,  but  there 
is  no  evidence  that  he  had  any  fully  developed  plans  of  his  own 
for  it  other  than  the  establishment  of  a  private  school  of  Anatomy 
and  Midwifery.  This  it  was  his  mission  to  create,  and,  as  a  pioneer, 
to  familiarize  the  public  with  the  subject  of  medical  teaching.  In 
the  only  expression  (c)  he  has  left  on  the  subject,  there  is  the  state- 
ment that  in  his  introductory  lecture  he  suggested  the  expediency 
of  provision  for  medical  teaching,  but  that  he  was  waiting  for  an- 
other fellow-student's  return  to  carry  it  into  effect.  It  is  by  no 
means  definite,  and  rather  suggests  that  he  fully  appreciated  the 
organizing  powers  of  his  friend,  who  was  in  Europe  at  the  time  he 

fb)    Wi*tar"s  Eulogium,  1809. 

(c)    Letter  10  the  trustees  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  13 

was  finishing  preparations  for  bis  course  of  lectures  in  I  be  autumn 
of  L762,  which  were  an  important  preliminary  i<»  more  systematized 
instruction.  Early  in  November  he  announced  i<li  the  course  as 
follows:  "Please  inform  the  public  thai  a  course  of  anatomical 
lectures  will  be  opened  this  winter  in  Philadelphia  for  the  advan- 
tage of  young  Gentlemen  now  engaged  in  the  study  of  Physic,  in 
this  and  the  neighboring  Provinces,  whose  circumstances  and  con- 
nections will  not  admit  of  their  going  abroad  for  Improvement  to 
the  Anatomical  Schools  in  Europe,  and  also  for  the  entertainment 
of  any  Gentlemen  who  may  have  the  curiosity  to  understand  the 
Anatomy  of  the  Human  Frame.  In  these  Lectures  the  situation, 
Figure  and  Structure  of  all  the  parte  of  the  human  body  will  be 
demonstrated  and  their  respective  Uses  explained,  and,  as  far  as  a 
( Jourse  of  Anatomy  will  permit,  their  Diseases,  with  the  Indications 
and  method  of  Cure  briefly  treated  of;  all  the  necessary  operations 
in  Surgery  will  be  performed,  a  Course  of  Bandages  exhibited,  and 
the  whole  conclude  with  an  explanation  of  some  of  the  curious 
Phenomena  that  arise  from  an  examination  of  the  Gravid  Uterus, 
and  a  few  plain  general  Directions  in  the  Study  and  Practice  of 
Midwifery.  The  Necessity  and  Public  Utilitj^  of  such  a  course  in 
this  growing  Country,  and  the  Method  to  be  pursued  therein,  will 
be  more  particularly  explained  in  an  Introductory  Lecture  to  be 
delivered  the  16th  Instant,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  Evening,  at  the 
State  House  by  William  Shippen,  Jun.  M.  D.  X.  B. — The  Man- 
agers and  Physicians  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  at  a  special 
meeting,  have  generously  consented  to  countenance  and  encourage 
this  Undertaking;  and  to  make  it  more  entertaining  and  profitabl  ■ 
have  granted  him  the  use  of  some  curious  Anatomical  Casts  and 
Drawings  (just  arrived  on  the  Carolina,  ('apt.  Friend),  presented 
by  the  judicious  and  benevolent  Doctor  Fothergill,  who  has  im- 
proved every  <  >pp<>rt  unity  of  promoting  the  Interest  and  Usefulness 

(,l»  'iMi.-  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  ftovember  LI,  L7G2.  The  building  Cor  his 
lectures  was  erected  for  the  purpose  in  the  rear  of  his  father's  residence,  which 
was  on  Fourth  street,  north  of  Market.  A.n  alley-way  led  to  11  from  Market  street. 
This  he  used  until  Anatomical  Hall  was  erected  many  years  later  <>n  Fifth  street, 

north  of  Walnut. 


U  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  that  noble  and  flourishing  Institution."  The  introductory  lec- 
ture was  well  received  and  attended,  but  no  record  of  it  seems  to 
have  been  preserved.  Two  wTeeks  later  it  is  announcd  (e)  that  "Dr. 
Shippen's  Anatomical  Lectures  will  begin  to-morrow  evening  at 
six  o'clock,  at  his  father's  house  in  Fourth  Street.  Tickets  for  the 
course  to  be  had  of  the  Doctor,  at  five  Pistoles  each,  and  any  gen- 
tlemen who  incline  to  see  the  subject  prepared  for  the  lectures  and 
learn  the  art  of  Dissecting,  Injections,  etc.,  are  to  pay  five  Pistoles 
more."  Twelve  students  were  in  attendance,  and  thus  was  founded 
the  first  private  school  of  anatomy  in  the  province,  the  forerunner 
of  the  first  medical  college  on  the  continent.  This  was  not  unat- 
tended with  difficulties  of  various  sorts,  but  they  were  subdued  in 
the  end.  In  December  following  the  body  of  a  negro,  who  had  com- 
mitted suicide,  was  turned  over  to  Shippen  for  dissection,  and  those 
of  all  suicides  and  criminals  thereafter  for  some  time.  Indeed, 
according  to  Watson,  there  was  a  most  uncanny  feeling  abroad 
regarding  the  young  medical  school,  so  that  not  only  was  it  necessary 
for  Dr.  Shippen  to  publicly  announce  that  his  subjects  were  entirely 
suicides,  criminals  and  a  few  specially  diseased  subjects  from  the 
Potter's  Field,  but  a  mob  of  sailors  was  with  difficulty  restrained 
from  demolishing  his  house  and  did  succeed  in  breaking  the  win- 
dows. His  innovations  in  midwifery,  too,  had  to  make  their  way 
slowly  against  public  feeling  adverse  to  men  entering  that  field 
and  against  the  opposition  of  the  midwives,  but  his  skill  and  persist- 
ence finally  won,  so  that  he  gave  lectures  to  both  men  and  women 
and  established  a  lying-in  hospital  in  1762  (f).    In  the  field  of  obstet- 

(e)  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  25th  of  November,  1762. 

(f)  George  W.  Norris.  As  the  first  announcement  of  the  first  lectures  of  this 
kind  on  the  continent,  the  following  is  of  interest.     This  was  in  March,  1762: 

"Doctor  Shippen,  Junior,  proposes  to  begin  his  first  course  on  niictwifery  as 
soon  as  a  number  of  pupils  sufficient  to  defray  the  necessary  expense  shall  apply. 
A  course  will  consist  of  about  twenty  lectures,  in  which  he  will  treat  of  that  part 
of  anatomy  which  is  necessary  to  understand  that  branch,  explain  all  cases  in 
midwifery— natural,  difficult  and  preternatural — and  give  directions  how  to  treat 
them  with  safety  to  the  mother  and  child;  describe  the  diseases  incident  to  Avomen 
and  children  in  the  month,  and  direct  to  proper  remedies;  will  take  occasion  during 
the  course  to  explain  and  apply  those  curious  anatomical  plates  and  casts  of  the 
gravid  uterus  at  the  Hospital,  and  conclude  the  whole  with  necessary  cautions 
against  the  dangerous  and  cruel  use  of  instruments.     In  order  to  make  the  course 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  15 

pics  Dr.  Shippen  must  be  accorded  the  honor  of  being  the  most  pow- 
erful pioneer  in  America.  The  course  of  lTiiii-;;  was  so  successful 
thai  in  the  spring  he  offered  liis  services  to  the  managers  of  the 
hospital,  and  on  May  17 1  hey  announced  thai  on  the21s1  instanl  I  >r. 
Shippen  would  give  lectures  once  a  fortnighl  al  the  hospital  also, 
ami  thai  students  would  i>e  expected  to  pay  "a  proper  gratuity" 
for  the  bene  lit  of  thai  institution.  His  regular  course  was  repeated 
in  the  winter  of  L763-4  and  thai  of  L764-5,  when  the  time  had  come 
for  new  developments,  the  lirst  si^-ns  ol'  which  began  to  appear  in 
May  of  the  latter  year. 

The  appearance  together  in  so  small  a  medical  field  as  Phila- 
delphia i hen  was,  of  two  such  royal,  highly  organized  natures  as 
Drs.  Morgan  and  Shippen,  both  conscious  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
events  they  were  enacting,  and  both  fired  by  an  ambition  so  splen- 
did and  intense  (hat  it  was  destined  to  mar  their  closing  years  with 
pathetic  disappointment,  was  an  event  almost  certain  to  be  at- 
tended by  abrasions  in  their  relations,  although  I  hey  were  intimate 
friends  at  times  ami  fellows  in  most  of  the  events  of  t  heir  lives.  This 
last  infirmity  of  noble  minds  profoundly  influences  both  their  lives 
and  yet  binds  them,  forever  inseparable,  in  some  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque and  pregnant  events  of  American  medical  history.  Both 
were  cultured  gentlemen  of  the  highesl  type  the  age  afforded;  the 
one,  I>r.  Shippen,  was  calm,  self-possessed,  far-seeing,  cautious,  a 
pioneer  of  fare  powers  as  a  leader;  the  other,  Dr.  Morgan,  fervent, 
impulsive,  positive,  and  with  the  highesl  qualities  of  a  statesman- 
like organizer;  of  nearly  the  same  age,  the  one  was  senior  in  prac- 
tice by  three  years,  the  other  senior  in  a,ue  by  one  year;  onuaovd 
in  the  same  events,  the  one  was  destined  to  precede  at  i  his  time  and 

more  perfeel  a  convenient  Lodging  is  provided  for  the  accommodation  of  a  tew  i r 

women,  who  otherwise  mighl  suffer  for  svanl  of  the  common  necessaries  on 
occasions,  t"  be  under  the  care  of  a  sober,  honesl  matron,  well  acquainted  with 
lying-in  women,  employed  by  the  Doctor  for  thai  purpose.  Each  pupil  i<»  annul 
two  courses  at  least,  for  which  he  is  to  pay  five  guineas.  Perpetual  pupils  i<>  pay 
ten  guineas.  The  female  pupils  t<>  be  taughl  privately  ami  assisted  at  any  of  their 
labors  when  necessary.  Tin-  Doctor  may  be  spoke  \\i;li  it  his  bouse,  in  Front 
Street,  very  morning  between  the  bours  "f  six  ami  nine,  or  at  Ms  office  in  Letiti.i 
!  'ourt  every  evening. " 


46  HISTORY  OP"  MEDICINE 

the  other  at  another.  Thus  in  the  story  of  events  they  are  so  in- 
dependent, yet  so  united,  that  the  life  of  the  one  cannot  be  under- 
stood without  an  acquaintance  with  that  of  his  friend  and  rival. 
Thus,  the  pioneer  of  education  became  professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery  (g)  in  the  school  the  other  had  founded  and  in  the  first 
year  of  its  organization,  and  so  continued  until  his  resignation, 
forty-one  years  later,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  Ten  years  later, 
in  1776,  with  a  record  of  having  taught  nearly  three  hundred  and 
forty  students,  he  enters  the  army  as  medical  director  of  "the  flying 
camp,"  while  Morgan  was  Director-General  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment, and  a  year  later  Shippen  succeeded  him  and  remained  at  the 
head  of  the  Department  until  his  resignation  in  1781.  In  practice  Dr. 
Shippen  was  probably  the  ablest  accoucheur  in  the  colonies,  and  as 
a  teacher  of  anatomy  had  no  superior.  Disappointment  prema- 
turely closed  the  career  of  Dr.  Morgan  in  1789,  and  scarcely  a  de- 
cade later,  1798,  to  Dr.  Shippen  came  a  sorrow  that,  says  Dr.  Wis- 
tar,  "cut  the  sinews  of  his  exertions  and  left  him  gradually  to 
wither — the  amiable  victim  of  paternal  affection."  "His  son,"  he 
says  further,  "had  every  advantage  in  education  that  good  sense 
and  knowledge  of  human  nature,  that  respectable  connections,  and, 
finally,  that  money  could  procure  for  him;  and,  such  were  his  tal- 
ents and  application  that  his  proficiency  was  equal  to  his  oppor- 
tunities. He  had  often  been  caressed  by  Washington — he  went 
abroad  and  visited  France  under  the  auspices  of  Jefferson — whilst 
in  England  he  enjoyed  the  countenance  of  the  late  President 
Adams,  and  was  on  intimate  terms  with  Lord  Shelburne.  His 
letters  from  those  countries  were  so  replete  with  information  and 
good  sense  that  they  gave  great  pleasure  to  many  persons  to  whom 
his  delighted  father  used  to  read  them.  After  four  years  of  ab- 
sence he  returned  and  proved  to  be  exactly  what  his  father  wished. 
He  was  not  only  a  man  of  talents  and  information,  but  of  great 
virtue  and  strong  filial  affection.  Shippen  would  have  loved  him 
as  a  friend  had  there  been  no  other  connection  between  them.  The 
regard  excited  by  these  qualities,  added  to  the  strong,    natural 

(g)    Midwifery  was  added  later. 


l\  PHILADELPHIA. 

affection  of  Shippen,  produced  an  attachment  to  his  son  which  has 
sciii(»ni  been  equaled.  ll<-  seemed,  like  James  Boswell,  in  the  case 
of  Samuel  Johnson,  to  Ins.-  sighl  of  himself,  and  forgei  thai  lie  also 
bad  a  pari  to  act,  so  fully  was  his  attention  absorbed  by  this  en- 
deared object.  Eis  strongest  wish  was,  to  pass  the  remainder  of  liis 
life  as  his  sun's  guest.  Be  therefore  gave  him  the  fairest  portion  of 
his  estate;  and,  to  obtain  Leisure  and  exemption  from  care,  pro- 
cured the  establishment  of  an  adjunct  professorship  of  Anatomy. 
But,  alas!  instead  of  realizing  tlies.-  fond  hopes*,  Shippen  had  to  <-n- 
dure  a  disappoint ment,  the  most  painful  which  suffering  humanity 
can  experience.  In  1702  his  son  began  to  complain  of  ill-health :  i  he 
father  devoted  to  him  almost  all  his  time,  and  consulted,  occasion- 
ally, all  his  medical  friends;  but  in  vain.  After  a  great  variety  of 
efforts  for  his  relief,  and  much  suffering  ou  his  part,  he  died  in 
1798.  And  the  object,  upon  which  Shippen  founded  hopes  of  com- 
fort for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  which  he  had  contemplated 
with  increasing  tenderness  for  thirty  years,  was,  forever,— done 
away.  This  overwhelming  stroke  did  not  prostrate  him,  for  he 
appeared  able  to  endure  it;  but  it  did  him  a  greater  injury,  by  de- 
stroying the  interest  he  felt  in  every  remaining  object."  But  when 
ten  years  later  his  own  death  occurred  on  July  11,  1808,  nothing 
stood  out  so  prominently  in  his  long  career  as  his  pioneer  work 
in  preparing  Philadelphia  for  her  career  at  the  head  of  the  medical 
education  in  the  republic,  and  posterity  will  ever  regard  as  the 
most  important  period  of  his  life  the  three  years  preceding  L765, 
during  which  he  presided  over  the  young  school  of  anatomy. 

It  was  during  the  winter  course  of  1764-5  that  Dr.  Morgan,  in 
London,  wrote  (h)  to  his  friend,  the  celebrated  Dr.  William  (/alien, 
of  Edinburgh,  in  cordial  intimacy:  "I  am  now  preparing  for 
America,  to  see  whether,  after  fourteen  years*  devotion  to  medicine 
I  can  get  my  living  without  turning  apothecary  or  practicing  sur- 
gery li).    My  scheme  for  instituting  lectures  you   will   hereafter 

(h)    Dated  "London,  November  10,  1764." 

(0  This  is  ten  years  before  Dr.  .Tom's"  expression  on  this  -object,  quoted  at  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter.  Dr.  Morgan  introduced,  limitations  of  a  specialist 
character. 


48  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

know  more  of.  It  is  not  prudent  to  broach  designs  prematurely, 
and  mine  are  not  yet  fully  ripe  for  execution."  This  independent 
tone  assumed  on  the  eve  of  his  departure,  but  ill  accords  with  Dr. 
FothergilPs  description  of  Morgan  as  Shippen's  "assistant."  Dr. 
Morgan  was  born  in  1735,  and  was  a  year  older  than  his  fellow- 
student;  if  he  did  not  begin  practice  sooner  it  was  only  be- 
cause he  spent  far  longer  time  in  preparation.  "It  is  now 
more  than  fifteen  years,"  said  he,  in  his  announcement  of 
methods  of  practice,  "since  I  began  the  study  of  medicine 
in  this  city,  which  I  have  prosecuted  ever  since  without 
interruption.  During  the  first  years  I  served  an  apprenticeship 
with  Dr.  Eedman,  who  then  did,  and  still  continues  to  enjoy  a 
most  justly  acquired  reputation  in  this  city  for  superior  knowledge 
and  extensive  practice  in  physic.  At  the  same  time  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  being  acquainted  with  the  practice  of  other  eminent  physi- 
cians in  this  place,  particularly  of  all  the  physicians  to  the  hospital, 
whose  prescriptions  I  put  up  there  for  above  the  space  of  one  year. 
The  term  of  my  apprenticeship  being  expired,  I  devoted  myself 
for  four  years  to  a  military  life,  principally  with  a  view  to  become 
more  skillful  in  my  profession,  being  engaged  the  whole  of  that 
time  in  a  very  extensive  practice  in  the  army  amongst  diseases 
of  every  kind.  The  last  five  years  I  have  spent  in  Europe,  under 
the  most  celebrated  masters  in  every  branch  of  medicine,  and 
spared  no  labor  or  expense  to  store  my  mind  with  an  extensive 
acquaintance  in  every  science  that  related  in  any  way  to  the  duty  of 
a  physician,  having  in  that  time  expended  in  this  pursuit  a  sum  of 
money  of  which  the  very  interest  would  prove  no  contemptible 
income.  With  what  success  this  has  been  done,  others  are  to 
judge,  and  not  myself."  Others  had  already  judged,  and  this  man  of 
thirty  years,  rarely  prepared  to  found  the  first  medical  college. in 
America  and  rare  exemplar  for  its  students,  was  already  a  Fellow 
of  the  Koyal  Society  of  London,  Correspondent  of  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy of  Surgery  at  Paris,  Member  of  the  Arcadian  Belles  Lettres 
Society  of  Rome,  Licentiate  of  the  Royal  Colleges  of  Physicians  in 
both  London  and  Edinburgh,  as  well  as  Professor  of  the  Theory  of 


IN  PHILADELPHIA- 

Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  newly-organized  medical  department 
of  the  College  of  Philadelphia,  afterward  the  great  University,  the 
Mrsi  professorship  in  the  medical  history  of  America. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  thai  Im-.  Morgan  was  of  Welsh 
blood,  horn  in  Philadelphia,  son  of  Evan  Morgan,  an  old  resident  of 
the  province  in  whose  founding  his  countrymen  had  been  so  promi- 
nent Like  l>r.  Shippen,  he  also  had  taken  his  preparatory  studies 
at  the  Rev.  Samuel  Finley's  academy  at  Nottingham,  in  Chester 
( Jounty,  but  instead  of  going  to  the  college  of  New  Jersey,  returned 
to  his  native  place  and  entered  that  other  new  institution  of  learn- 
ing, the  College  of  Philadelphia,  founded  in  174!)  as  an  academy, 
and  graduated  in  its  first  class,  with  the  bachelor's  degree,  on  May 
IT,  1757,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  had  begun  his  medical 
studies  very  early,  under  the  youngest  of  the  first  group  of  native 
American  physicians  in  Philadelphia,  Dr.  John  Redman,  whose 
long  life  of  eighty-two  years  caused  him  to  survive  all  his  early 
contemporaries  and  most  of  his  later,  to  become  the  Nestor  of  a 
third  generation.  During  his  six  years'  apprenticeship  he  served 
thirteen  months  as  the  second  occupant  of  the  office  of  apothecary 
to  the  hospital,  resigning  the  1st  of  May,  1750.  Undonbtedly  he 
carried  on  his  medical  and  literary  studies  at  the  same  time,  and 
must  have  been  connected  in  some  manner  with  the  hospital  serv- 
ice of  the  French  war  even  at  this  date.  So  little  exact  record  is 
left  of  his  early  years  that,  considering  his  unusual  ability,  it 
seems  reasonable  to  infer  that  he  had  been  carried  so  far  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Fiuley,  who  was  a  college  in  himself,  as  to  be  admitted  as 
an  advanced  student  in  college,  and  even  that  he  did  much  non- 
resident work  for  his  degree,  received  in  1757.  At  any  rate,  since 
he  served  four  years  in  the  French  war,  he  must  have  enlisted 
in  some  part  of  its  hospital  service  in  1750,  and  is  known  to  have 
been  on  the  Forbes'  expedition  (k),  holding  a  lieutenant's  commis- 
sion, dated  April  1,  1758,  though  acting  chiefly  as  surgeon,  in 
which  capacity  his  superior  officer  chose  to  mention  that  he  "did 
his  duty  very  well."  This  is  one  of  the  earliest  records  of  a  Phila- 
(k)    Dr.  Ruschenburger's  History  of  tho  College  of  Physicians.    Transactions 

of    1887 


50  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

delphia  physician  in  military  hospital  service,  this  being  in  the 
last  war  waged  by  Britain  and  this  province  against  a  common 
enemy.  On  retiring  from  military  service  he  began  preparations 
for  going  abroad  in  1760.  He  first  went  to  London,  where  he 
studied  under  Hewson  and  the  two  Hunters,  and  became  an  adept 
in  the  art  of  making  anatomical  preparations  by  corrosion,  which  he 
was  later  to  introduce  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  following 
year  he  prepared  for  Edinburgh,  bearing  to  Dr.  William  Cullen  a  let- 
ter from  Franlin  (1),  who  was  then  in  London,  stating  that  "the 
bearer,  Mr.  Morgan,  who  proposes  to  reside  some  time  in  Edinburgh 
for  the  completion  of  his  studies  in  Physic,  is  a  young  gentleman  of 
Philadelphia  whom  I  have  long  known  and  greatly  esteem;  and  as  I 
interest  myself  in  what  relates  to  him,  I  cannot  but  wish  him  the 
advantages  of  your  conversation  and  instruction."  A  biographer 
of  Dr.  Cullen  (m),  quoting  this  letter,  says:  "Mr.  Morgan,  who  is 
mentioned  in  the  foregoing  letter,  appears  to  have  fully  realized 
the  expectations  of  his  friend  Dr.  Franklin.  He  distinguished  him- 
self while  in  Edinburgh  by  a  diligent  application  to  his  studies; 
published,  on  receiving  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  an  excel- 
lent inaugural  dissertation  on  the  subject  of  Suppuration  (n);  visited 
the  principal  hospitals  of  France  and  Italy  before  returning  to  his 
native  country.  After  his  return  to  America  he  took  an  active  share 
in  the  institution  of  lectures  on  different  branches  of  medicine  in 
the  College  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  establishment  of  a  dispen- 
sary and  of  a  medical  society  in  that  city.  The  progress  of  these 
institutions  is  minutely  described  in  his  letter  to  Dr.  Cullen,  to- 
ward whom  he  always  appears  to  have  felt  and  expressed  a  very 
grateful  attachment."  It  was  at  Edinburgh  that  he  gained  his 
ideas  of  the  constitution  of  a  medical  college  and  thus  stamped 

(1)    Dated  October  21,  1761. 

(m)    Dr.  John  Thompson.  1832. 

(n)  A  copy  of  his  thesis,  dated  July  18,  1763,  may  be  seen  in  the  Library  at 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania  (and  in  that  of  the  College  of  Physicians).  "De 
Puopoiesi,"  etc.  Dr.  James  Curry,  of  Guy's  Hospital,  in  1817,  says  that  in  this 
thesis  Dr.  Morgan  anticipated  Dr.  Hunter  in  the  theory  that  pus  is  a  secretion 
from  the  vessels.     His  diploma  hangs  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians. 


[\   PHILADELPHIA.  :.l 

upon  the  whole  medical  educational  system  of  America  the  essen- 
t  ial  features  of  thai  school. 

On  the  29th  of  June,  L763,  ;i  friend  writes  from  London:  "Mor- 
gan is  si  ill  in  Edinburgh  and  will  leave  Edinburgh  in  about  a  fort  ■ 
night,"  mid  again  on  September  1st:  "Morgan  has  graduated  ai 
Edinburgh  with  an  eclal  almost  unknown  before.  The  Professors 
give  1 1 i 1 1 1  the  highest  character  yon  can  imagine  (o)."  Ii  would 
seem  from  this  that  sometime  late  in  17»i:;  he  went  to  Paris,  where, 
under  the  direction  of  M.  Sue,  he  made  farther  studies  in  anatomy. 
While  there  he  prepared  the  vessels  of  a  kidney  according  i"  his 
system  of  corrosion,  so  finely,  that,  on  account  of  Ids  presentation 
of  it  before  the  Royal  Academy  of  Surgery,  he  was  afterward  made 
a  corresponding  member  of  that  body  on  July  .">,  I7t'»4.  But  one 
member  had  seen  the  method  before  and  Dr.  Morgan  claimed  the 
honor  of  having  introduced  it  in  both  Paris  and  Southern  France. 
In  the  latter  region  and  in  Switzerland  and  Italy,  he  traveled  dur- 
ing the  spring  and  summer  of  17»>4,  visiting  medical  schools,  hos- 
pitals and  other  public  institutions,  most  interesting  details  of 
which  have  been  preserved  in  his  journal,  and  from  which  is 
taken  the  following  account  of  his  visit  to  the  famous  Paduan, 
Morgagni.  He  had  left  Rome  on  July  (!,  and  the  description  is 
dated  at  Padua,  July  24,  17(54,  and  reads: 

"I  went  to  pay  my  respects  to  the  celebrated  Morgagni,  Pro- 
fessor of  Anatomy  at  Padua,  to  whom  T  had  letters  from  1  >r.  Sevan, 
of  Bologna.  He  received  me  with  the  greatest  politeness  imagin- 
able, and  showed  me  abundant  civilities,  with  a  very  good  grace. 
He  is  now  eighty-two  years  of  age,  yet  reads  without  spectacles, 
and  is  alert  as  a  man  of  fifty.  I  found  that  he  was  unacquainted 
with  anatomical  preparations  made  by  corrosion.  I  showed  him  a 
piece  of  kidney  which  I  had  injected  at  Paris,  and  which  was  finely 
corroded.  Broken  as  it  was,  he  was  highly  pleased,  and  saw  at 
once  the  utility  of  such  preparations.  1  apologized  for  the  state 
it  was  in,  from  having  brought  it  so  far.  He  was  pleased  to  answer. 
»./  ungue  h<>n<ni — that,  he  saw  enough  from  that  small  specimen 
mi    Powel-Roberts'  Corespondence,  i7<U-<;.">.  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine. 


52  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

to  convince  him  of  the  excellency  of  such  preparations.  He  ac- 
knowledged that  he  had  never  seen  any  preparations  before  in 
which  the  vessels  were  so  minutely  filled.  Euysch,  he  says,  had 
sent  him  some  of  his  preparations,  in  which  the  vessels  appeared 
more  like  a  confused  mass  than  distinct,  in  the  manner  of  this. 
I  asked  him  what  method  he  took  to  trace  the  vessels,  lie  told 
me,  he  did  (p)  always  in  subjects  where  the  inflammation  was 
great,  which  made  the  vessels  appear  distinct  and  plain,  but 
these  were  not  durable  as  preparations  made  by  injection.  He 
then  conveyed  me  into  a  small  cabinet,  where  he  showed  me 
a  great  number  of  skeletons  of  the  human  fcetus,  in  a  series, 
from  a  few  weeks  old,  to  nine  months,  and  from  that  upward 
to  an  adult.  Among  others,  a  fcetus  of  six  or  seven  months  old, 
in  which  the  form  was  complete,  except  near  half  of  the  spine — 
i.  e.,  the  back  of  it  was  wanting  all  the  way  up;  nor  had  it 
ever  either  brain  or  spinal  marrow.  He  showed  me  also  a  cal- 
culus, formed  on  a  needle,  in  the  bladder  of  a  man,  which  had 
stopped  up  the  urethra  without  forming  any  ulceration,  or  the 
least  sign  of  a  cicatrix  of  a  wound.  This,  and  the  following 
which  he  showed  me,  are  spoken  of  in  his  treatise,  Be  Sedibus  et 
Causis  Morbomm,  viz.,  the  second  was  a  calculus  formed  on  the 
point  of  a  corking  pin,  which  a  female  had  introduced  a  little  way 
into  her  bladder,  Avhich,  being  irritated  thereby,  contracted,  and 
drew  the  pin  into  the  bladder,  so  as  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a 
calculus,  of  which  she  died. 

"He  showed  me,  likewise,  many  curious  preparations  of  the 
bones  of  the  ear,  and  pointed  out  the  spur-like  process  of  the 
malleus  which  his  master  in  anatomy,  Valsalva,  could  never  find 
till  he  showed  it  to  him;  also  the  three  semi-circular  canals,  sep- 
arate from  all  the  other  bones,  with  the  five  holes  opening  so  as 
to  be  seen  at  the  same  time;  also  all  the  organs  of  hearing,  with 
the  external  ear,  the  hard  and  soft  parts  together,  freed  from  all 

(p)  This  seutence  is  faulty,  either  in  the  original,  or  else  by  error  of  the  copyist. 
The  manuscript  in  the  Historical  Society  is  a  copy,  the  original  being  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  family. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

tli«-  surrounding  hard  hone;  and,  lastly,  the  internal  cavity  of  th  • 
ear,  with  all  the  parts  in  situ,  which  In-  had  so  prepared  as  to 
see  the  differenl  in  dies  in  their  place  without  touching  them  ;i  i  all. 
This  he  had  done  partly  with  ;i  file  and  partly  with  a  hard  nm 
pered   knife,  like  adamant,  and — a  great  deal  of  patience.     He 

had  sawed   the  cranium   in   two,  as  usually  done  in  dissecting  the 

brain,  bin  acknowledged  thai  if  he  had  taken  the  temporal  bone 
out,  he  could  work  much  easier,  as  the  surrounding  bones  would 
not  have  impeded  the  motion  of  his  hand  in  dissecting. 

"In  this  cabinet  be  had  a  series  of  portraits  of  old  anat- 
omists, his  ("anions  predecessors  at  Bologna,  in  which  he  pointed 
out  a  particularity  with  regard  to  dross;  the  nocks  of  th«-  first 
being  covered  with  a  kind  of  caul,  like  a  modern  monk's  hook; 
this  gradually  lessened,  and  a  fur  lining  took  the  place,  but  tin- 
neck  less  covered  up,  till  at  length  they  came  to  wear  hands, 
which  at  first  were  small,  and  gradually  enlarged  to  the  greatest 
size.  In  this  cabinet  were  the  portraits — i.  e.,  the  heads — of  two 
beautiful  girls,  done  by  llosalba,  in  crayons.  I  asked.  Who  were 
these,  and  he  told  me  as  follows:  "That  he  had  fifteen  children, 
of  whom  remain  two  sons  and  eight  daughters;  every  one,  as 
they  grew  up,  requested  to  become  nuns,  which  he  esteemed  very 
singular,  and  that  they  entered  by  pairs  into  four  different  con- 
vents. When  their  time  of  probation  expired,  they  were,  at  their 
own  choice,  to  live  in  the  world  or  take  the  veil,  which  hist  they 
all  preferred;  the  two  youngest  going  into  the  strictest  order  of 
Franciscans,  where  they  go  barefooted  and  always  veiled.  Be- 
fore  these  were  shut  up  thus  for  life,  the  celebrated  female 
paintress,  Rosalba,  as  a  friend  of  Morgagni,  drew  these  portraits 
and  made  him  a  present  of  them,  before  he  knew  she  had  any  in- 
tention to  draw  them.  As  the  others  are  of  orders  less  strict. 
and  may  be  seen  without  veils,  there  was  less  occasion  for  their 
portraits.' 

"I  presented  him,  before  coming  away,  with  my  thesis,  and 
he  was  so  good  as  to  do  me  the  honor  of  making  me  a  present 
of  his  late  publication,  2  vols,  folio,  -l><    Sedibus  <t  Causis  Mor- 


54  HISTORY   OF  MEDICINE 

borum,"  (q),  of  which  there  have  been  three  different  editions 
Avithin  these  three  years,  being  in  the  highest  estimation  through- 
out Europe,  and  all  the  copies  of  the  first  edition  already  bought 
up." 

His  Padua  visit  over,  he  went  to  Switzerland,  and  while  at 
Geneva  presented  letters  to  Voltaire  in  his  home  at  Ferney,  on 
Sunday,  the  16th  of  September,  and  made  as  great  an  impression 
on  the  great  Frenchman  as  elsewhere,  the  account  of  which  in 
his  journal  is  as  vivid  as  that  written  at  Padua.  Passing  on  to 
London,  he  writes  a  chatty  outline  of  his  continental  visit,  to 
Dr.  Cullen,  full  of  suggestive  references;  it  is  dated  November  10, 
1764,  at  London : 

"Can  you  forgive  me  if,  upon  my  being  just  returned  from 
my  tour  through  France  and  Italy,  I  write  you  but  a  very  short 
letter  till  I  have  been  here  a  week  or  two  longer,  and  got  myself 
a  little  composed.  At  present  what  with  a  crowd  of  acquaint- 
ances every  day,  and  with  the  kindest  intentions,  breaking  in 
upon  that  time  I  proposed  to  devote  to  writing  to  my  friends, 
and  the  chaos  of  ideas  which  disturb  my  regular  thinking  at  pres- 
ent, I  find  I  cannot  execute  the  task  as  I  ought.  Everything  I 
tell  you  now  must  be  rather  broken  hints,  than  a  connected  rela- 
tion. I  have  not  been  able  to  see  M.  Senac  while  last  in  Paris. 
I  was  at  Fontainebleau  once  with  that  view,  but  he  was  then 
for  a  night  or  two  with  the  King  at  Choisy,  which  I  knew  not  of 
at  the  time;  and  I  was  too  much  hurried  to  repeat  the  visit, 
as  I  wanted  to  reach  London  in  time  enough  to  sail  in  the  fall 
for  Philadelphia;  I  think  I  cannot  now  sail  till  toward  spring. 
The  most  agreeable  incidents  happened  to  Mr.  Powel  and  myself 
in  our  tour,  which  lasted  about  eight  months.  It  was  crowded 
with  a  great  variety  of  the  most  interesting  circumstances,  full 

(q)  These,  by  his  will*  have  been  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
since  February,  1790,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  first  and  second  title  pages  respectively, 
in  fading  Latin  phrases  are:  "Gift  of  the  author  to  the  most  skillful  and  accom- 
plished Dr.  John  Morgan,"  and  "Gift  of  the  author  to  Dr.  John  Morgan,-  highly 
deserving  in  anatomy,"  "Viro  experientissimo  et  humanissimo  D.  Di  Joanni  Mor- 
gan Auctor"  and  "Viro  de  Re  anatomico  bene  merito  Do.  Joanni  Morgan  Auctor.") 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  55 

of  pleasing  scenes  for  the  most  part,  and  of  a  nature  different 
from  ;ui<l  more  agreeable  than  what  I  have  I »;-«-n  commonly  used 
to.  The  order  of  our  travels  through  Italy  w;is  Genoa,  Leghorn, 
Pisa,  Florence,  Koine,  Naples  and  its  environs.  Alter  our  return 
to  Rome,  ii  \\;is  on  the  Adriatic  side  of  Italy,  through  Loreto, 
Bologna,  Ferrara,  Padua,  Venice;  we  took  Padua  in  the  way  again 
on  our  return,  and  passed  through  Vicenza,  Verona,  Mantua,  tie- 
states  of  Parma  and  Placentia,  to  Milan  and  Turin.  We  crossed 
the  Alps  to  Geneva,  returned  to  Paris  through  Lyons,  and  from 
thence  came  to  London  about  a  week  ago.  We  were  in  the  suite 
of  the  Duke  of  York  at  Leghorn,  Florence  and  Koine,  where  we 
were  particularly  presented  to  him,  and  had  access  to  all  the  grand 
entertainments  made  for  His  Royal  Highness,  which  were  indeed 
superb,  sumptuous  and  magnificent. 

"We  had  a  private  audience  with  the  Pope,  four  English  gen- 
tlemen of  us  being  presented  at  that  time.  He  was  affable  and 
courteous.  At  Turin  we  had  the  honor  of  being  presented  to  his 
Sardinian  Majesty  and  the  royal  family,  and  obtained  express 
leave  of  the  King  to  see  the  fortifications  of  Turin,  and  those 
which  defend  the  pass  into  his  dominions  by  the  Alps.  When  a1 
Geneva  we  paid  a  visit  to  Voltaire,  to  whom  we  had  a  letter, 
and  were  entertained  by  him  with  most  singular  politeness— for 

us,  I  mean — perhaps  usual  enough  in  regard  to  Voltaire 

There  is  a  pretty  good  physical — I  mean  medical — university 
at  Bologna,  and  Morgagni  has  a  very  crowded  class  at  his  ana- 
tomical lectures  at  Padua.  There  are  some  other  schools  of  medi- 
cine in  Italy;  but,  upon  the  whole,  to  me  they  seem  behindhand- 
medicine  not  being  in  high  repute,  or  cultivated  with  that  spirit 
it  ought  t<>  be.  As  to  the  grandeur  of  the  ancients,  from  what 
we  can  see  of  their  remains,  it  is  most  extraordinary.  Arts  with 
them  seem  to  have  been  in  a  perfection  which  1  could  not  have 
imagined.  Their  palaces,  temples,  aqueducts,  baths,  theaters, 
amphitheaters,  monuments,  statues,  sculptures,  were  most  amaz- 
ing. The  soul  is  struck  at  the  review,  ami  the  ideas  expand;  hut 
T  have  not  leisure  to  dwell  on  these  topics.     T  musi  return  to  the 


56  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

world  where  I  now  am  just  going — this  as  different  from  the 
former,  the  rest  of  Europe  I  have  seen,  as  that  from  Italy,  and 
really  to  me  it  does  not  appear  more  so.  At  Paris  I  took  my  seat 
in  the  Boyal  Academy  of  Surgery,  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
be  admitted  as  a  corresponding  member  (July  5,  1764) — a  distinc- 
tion from  a  resident  fellow.  I  am  now  preparing  for  America, 
to  see  whether,  after  fourteen  years'  devotion  to  medicine,  I  can 
get  my  living  without  turning  apothecary  or  practicing  surgery. 
My  scheme  of  instituting  lectures  3^ou  will  hereafter  know  more 
of.  It  is  not  prudent  to  broach  designs  prematurely;  and  mine 
are  not  yet  fully  ripe  for  execution.  My  best  compliments  to  all 
your  family,  not  forgetting  them  particularly  to  my  Mamma  Cnl- 
len,  and  to  your  eldest  son.  Believe  me  to  be,  with  the  greatest 
esteem,  dear  sir,  your  affectionate  friend,  and  much  obliged  hum- 
ble servant,  JOHN  MOBGAN." 

That  winter  in  London  was  full  of  activity  in  maturing  his 
plans  for  a  new  medical  school.  He  was  so  confident  of  its  out- 
come that  he  had  already  prepared  his  inaugural  in  Paris.  He 
sought  the  aid  of  two  former  members  of  the  board  of  trustees 
of  his  alma  mater,  Mr.  Hamilton  and  Mr.  Bichard  Peters,  then 
residing  in  England;  he  conferred  with  and  secured  the  approval 
of  Drs.  Fothergill,  Hunter,  Watson  and  Cullen;  on  February  15, 
1765,  not  long  before  his  departure,  he  secured  the  following  let- 
ter for  presentation  to  the  board  from  Thomas  Penn,  one  of  its 
chief  patrons: 

"Gentlemen:  Dr.  Morgan  has  laid  before  me  a  proposal  for 
introducing  new  professorships  into  the  Academy  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  all  such  as  shall  incline  to  go  into  the  study  and  practice  of 
Physic  and  Surgery,  as  well  as  the  several  occupations  attending 
upon  these  useful  and  necessary  arts.  He  thinks  his  scheme,  if  pat- 
ronized by  the  trustees,  will  at  present  give  reputation  and  strength 
to  the  Institution,  and,  though  it  may  for  some  time  occasion  a 
small  expense,  yet  after  a  little  while  it  will  gradually  support 
itself,  and  even  make  considerable  additions  to  the  Academy's 
funds.     Dr.  Morgan  has  employed  his  time  in  an  assiduous  search 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

after  knowledge  in  all  the  branches  accessary  for  the  practice 
of  liis  profession,  and  has  gained  such  mi  esteem  and  Love  from 
persons  of  the  lirsi  rank  in  ii,  that,  as  they  very  much  approve 
his  system,  they  will  from  time  to  time,  as  he  assures  us,  give 
him  their  countenance  and  assistance  in  the  execution  of  it.  We 
are  made  acquainted  with  what  is  proposed  to  be  taught,  and  how 
the  Lectures  may  be  adapted  by  you,  and  sine-  the  Like  systems 
have  brought  much  advantage  to  every  place  where  they  have 
been  received,  and  such  learned  ami  eminent  men  speak  favorably 
of  the  doctor's  plan,  I  could  not  but  in  the  most  kind  manner 
recommend  Dr.  Morgan  to  you,  and  desire  that  he  may  be  well 
received,  and  what  he  lias  to  offer  be  taken  with  all  becoming 
respect  and  expedition  into  your  most  serious  consideration,  and 
if  it  shall  be  thought  necessary  to  go  into  it,  and  thereupon  to 
open  Professorships,  that  he  may  be  taken  into  your  service. 
When  you  have  heard  him  and  duly  considered  what  he  has  to 
lay  before  you,  you  will  be  best  able  to  judge  in  what  manner  yon 
can  serve  the  public,  the  Institution,  and  the  particular  design 
now  recommended  to  you." 

Not  long  after  securing  this  letter  Dr.  Morgan  sailed  for  Phila- 
delphia, and  on  his  arrival  pushed  his  plans  with  all  vigor  from 
the  first.  The  board  of  trustees  consisted  of  twenty-four  mem- 
bers, of  whom  were  five  of  the  six  members  of  the  hospital  staff, 
namely,  Drs.  Thomas  and  Phineas  Bond,  Cadwalader,  the  elder 
Shippen,  and  Redman;  so  intimately  were  the  hospital  and  col- 
lege connected  already.  His  presentation  was  successful,  and  on 
May  3,  1TG5,  says  the  minutes  of  the  board,  "entertaining  a  high 
sense  of  Dr.  Morgan's  abilities  and  the  high  honors  paid  to  him 
by  different  learned  bodies  and  societies  in  Europe,  they  unani- 
mously elected  him  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Physic,"  and  one  of  the  institution's  first  graduates  was  inducted 
into  the  first  medical  professorship  and  the  first  established  med- 
ical school  on  the  western  continent.  Looking  at  it  through  the 
eyes  of  to-day  it  seems  almost  too  insignificant  to  deserve  the 
present  resonant  title  of  medical  department  of  a  university,  but 


58  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

it  need  hardly  be  suggested  that  there  is  scarcely  a  great  medical 
school  or  university  in  existence  that  did  not  begin  in  days  of  small 
things.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  both  the  city  and  coun- 
try were  comparatively  of  no  larger  dimensions,  the  former  con- 
taining about  twenty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  latter  less 
than  three  millions.  Its  greatness  lies  in  its  being  an  institution, 
and  Dr.  Morgan  had  precisely  this  idea  of  it.  "What  led  me  to 
it,"  said  he,  in  his  inaugural,  "was  the  obvious  utility  that  would 
attend  it,  and  the  desire  I  had  of  presenting,  as  a  tribute  of  grati- 
tude to  my  alma  mater,  a  full  and  enlarged  plan  for  the  Institu- 
tion of  Medicine,  in  all  its  branches,  in  this  seminary,  where  I 
had  part  of  my  education,  being  amongst  the  first  sons  who  shared 
in  its  public  honors.  I  was  further  induced  to  it  from  a  consid- 
eration, that  private  schemes  of  propagating  knowledge  are  un- 
stable in  their  nature,  and  that  the  cultivation  of  useful  learning 
can  only  be  effectually  promoted  under  those  who  are  patrons 
of  science,  and  under  the  authority  and  direction  of  men  incor- 
porated for  the  improvement  of  literature"  (r). 

All  his  plans  of  practice  were  subordinated  to  this  institu- 
tional work.  He  proposed  to  limit  it  to  a  form  of  specialization, 
using  specializing  features  of  other  occupations  to  illustrate  when- 
ever he  spoke  of  it.  He  proposed  to  have  time  for  investigation 
and  preparation  of  lectures,  and  in  consequence,  said  he,  "my 
usefulness  as  a  professor  makes  it  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to 
follow  that  method  of  practice  which  alone  appears  to  be  calcu- 
lated to  answer  that  end." 

He  adopted  a  most  advanced  standard  from  the  first,  and 
almost  immediately  assumed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.     In 

(r)  An  interesting  reference  to  his  election,  less  than  three  weeks  later,  is 
found  in  the  Powel-Roberts  letters,  previously  quoted;  it  is  dated  at  Philadelphia, 
May  21,  and  says:  "Morgan  comes  home  flushed  with  honors,  and  is  treated  by  his 
friends  with  all  clue  respect  to  his  merit.  He  appears  to  be  the  same  social,  friendly 
man.  not  assuming  the  solemn  badge  so  accustomed  to  sons  of  Esculapius.  *  *  *  * 
He  has  commenced  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Col- 
lege, and  intends  publicly  to  open  his  scheme  at  next  commencement.  I  hope  the 
Doctor  may  meet  with  success  in  his  undertaking,  tho'  I  fear  the  mode  of  giving 
fees  on  attendance  to  the  sick  will  be  too  refined  for  this  paper-monied  country." 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

the  first  place,  lie  should  be  wholly  a  physician,  and  do  neither 

the  work  of  an  apothecary  imr  surgeon,  and  that,  too,  on  tin-  prin- 
ciple that  there  should  be  professional  surgeons  (s)  ami  apothecaries 
<>f  the  same  high  character  as  he  proposed  there  should  be  in  medi- 
cine. I  n<  I  cod,  he  provided  for  this  by  bringing  with  him  .Mi-.  David 
Leighton,  "educated  in  (it-cat  Britain  both  in  pharmacy  ami  sur- 
gery," and  ii  is  in  no  small  measure  due  to  Dr.  Morgan  that  this 
<it\  so  early  took  so  advanced  a  position  in  pharmacy.  This 
method  required  a  readjustment  of  fees,  also,  ami  on  his  first 
arrival  he  made  it  known  that  on  his  firsl  \  isit  he  desired  ;i  retain- 
ing fee  from  the  rich,  though  not  from  the  poor,  the  fate  being 
a  pistole  for  the  first  visit,  and  a  dollar  for  succeeding  visits. 
This  after  a  time  was  so  misconstrued  in  some  quarters  that  he 
chose  to  publish  a  full  explanation  of  his  whole  system  of  prac- 
tice, and  while  some  of  his  standards  were  not  generally  adopted 
by  the  profession,  he  held  to  most  of  t hem  himself  and  undoubtedly 
had  a  large  influence  on  future  city  practice. 

Commencement  at  the  College  occurred  the  same  month,  occu- 
pying two  days,  May  30  and  31,  on  both  of  which  he  delivered 
his  inaugural,  entitled  "A  Discourse  Upon  the  Institution  of  Med- 
ical Schools  in  America."  In  this  he  gave  a  masterly  outline  of 
the  various  departments  of  medical  study  as  then  existing,  the 
state  of  it  in  America,  arguments  for  the  institution  of  medical 
schools  and  the  favorable  conditions  for  study  afforded  by  Phila- 
delphia and  the  profession  in  that  city,  the  steps  already  taken  in 
that  direction,  the  further  steps  necessary,  answered  objections 
as  to  the  infant  state  of  the  colonies,  ami  the  mixed  practice  of  the 
different  departments  of  medicine,  recommended  the  regular  mode 
of  practice,  and  finally  gave  a  strong  presentation  of  the  advan- 
tages this  institution  would  afford  to  students,  the  college,  the  city 
and  the  colonies,  with  an  appeal  to  students  and  trustees  in  favor 


is*  "Surgery  calls  for  different  powers  and  qualifications  rarely  united  in  >>n<- 
man.  Are  these  -ill  then  to  be  blended  with  the  apothecary,  the  botanist  and 
chymlst,  which  oughl  to  be  and  are  each  of  them  separate  and  distinct  in  their 
very  nature?"  he  writes  in  the  account  of  his  method  of  practice,  published  in  con- 
nection with  his  inaugural  as  "An  Apology." 


60  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  the  project.  "Never  yet,"  said  he,  "has  there  offered  a  coalition 
of  able  men,  who  would  undertake  to  give  complete  and  regular 
courses  of  lectures  on  the  different  branches  of  medicine;  and 
such  an  extensive  field  it  is,  as  requires  the  united  efforts  of  sev- 
eral co-operating  together,  to  cultivate  with  success.  As  well 
might  a  parent  take  upon  himself  the  private  tuition  of  his  son, 
and  to  make  him  master  of  all  the  different  languages,  arts,  and 
sciences,  which  are  generally  deemed  requisite,  previous  to  his 
entering  upon  the  higher  studies  of  Law,  Physic  and  Divinity;  as 
that  a  physician,  engaged  in  an  extensive  practice,  should  under- 
take to  deliver  to  his  apprentices,  in  a  regular  manner,  the  pre- 
cepts of  his  art  in  all  its  branches.  This  is  as  impracticable  as 
it  is  unreasonable  to  expect."  He  instances  Edinburgh  and  how 
in  but  little  more  than  forty  years  there  had  gathered  there  such 
great  names  as  "Drummond,  Dick,  Clerk,  Rutherford,  Sinclair, 
Alston,  Plummer,  Monro,  Whytt,  Cullen,  Hope,  Black,  and  some 

others now  known  wherever  the  knowledge  of  Physic  is 

cultivated."  He  said  if  men  were  not  ready  for  these  positions, 
they  would  arise;  one,  besides  himself,  was  already  there.  "It  is 
with  the  highest  satisfaction,"  said  he,  "I  am  informed  from  Dr. 
Shippen,  junior,  that  in  an  address  to  the  public  as  introductory  to 
his  first  anatomical  course,  he  proposed  some  hints  of  a  plan  for 
giving  medical  lectures  among  us.  But  I  do  not  learn  that  he 
recommended  at  all  a  collegiate  undertaking  of  this  kind."  He 
suggests  when  a  chair  of  Anatomy  is  founded,  that  Dr.  Shippen 
be  chosen,  and  announces  his  own  courses  for  the  coming  autumn. 
In  one  of  his  closing  paragraphs  he  happily  and  truly  describes 
the  future: 

"Perhaps  this  medical  institution,  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
America,  though  small  in  its  beginning,  may  receive  constant 
increase  of  strength,  and  annually  exert  new  vigor.  It  may  col- 
lect a  number  of  young  persons,  of  more  than  ordinary  abilities; 
and  so  improve  their  knowledge  as  to  spread  its  reputation  to  dis- 
tant parts.  By  sending  these  abroad  duly  qualified,  or  by  excitiDg 
an  emulation  amongst  men  of  parts  and  literature,  it  may  give 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  01 

birth  t<>  other  useful  institutions  of  a  similar  nature,  or  occa- 
sional rise,  by  its  example,  to  numerous  societies  of  different  kinds, 
calculated  to  spread  the  light  of  knowledge  through  the  whole 
American  contin'ent  wherever  inhabited'  (t). 

In  the  autumn  following,  on  \\\<-  23rd  of  September,  tin-  board 
in'  i  and  as  "Dr.  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  applied  by  letter,"  to  use 
the  words  of  the  minutes,  dated  on  the  17th,  In-  was  unanimously 
elected  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery.    The  Letter  reads: 

"The  institution  of  Medical  Schools  in  this  country  has  been 
a  favorite  object  of  my  attention  for  seven  years  ]>ast,  and  ii  is 
three  years  since  I  proposed  the  expediency  and  practicability  of 
teaching  medicine  in  all  its  branches  in  this  city  in  a  public  oration 
read  at  the  State  House,  introductory  to  my  first  course  of  Anat- 
omy. I  should  lon£  since  have  sought  the  patronage  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  College,  but  waited  to  be  joined  by  Dr.  Morgan,  to 
whom  I  first  communicated  my  plan  in  England,  and  who  promised 
to  uuite  with  me  in  every  scheme  we  might  think  necessary  for  the 
execution  of  so  important  a  point.  I  am  pleased,  however,  to  hear 
that  you,  gentlemen,  on  being  applied  to  by  Dr.  Morgan,  have 
appointed  that  gentleman  Professor  of  Medicine.  A  Professorship 
<»f  Anatomy  and  Surgery  will  be  accepted  by,  gentlemen,  your  most 
obedient  and  very  humble  servant, 

*  "WILLIAM  SHIPPEN,  Junior." 

Three  days  later,  the  2(>th,  announcements  of  the  opening  of 
the  departments,  signed  by  both,  and  of  courses,  signed  by  each 
respectively,  appeared  in  the  Gazette^  the  former  being  as  follows: 

"As  the  necessity  of  cultivating  medical  knowledge  in  Amer- 
ica is  allowed  by  all,  it  is  with  pleasure  we  inform  the  public  that 
a  ( !ourse  of  Lectures  on  two  of  the  most  important  branches  of  that 
useful  science,  viz..  Anatomy  and  Materia  Medica,  will  be  deliv- 
ered this  winter  in  Philadelphia.    We  have  great  reason,  therefor.-. 

(t)  Bradford  published  the  discourse,  together  with  the  prefatory  "Apology," 
daring  the  year,  some  of  the  original  copies  of  which  may  be  seen  al  the  College 
of  Physicians.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  said:  "The  perspicuity  -with  which  ir  was 
written  and  spoke  drew  the  close  attention  of  the  audience,  particularly  of  the 
gentlemen  of  tin>  Faculty  of  Physic,"  as  the  profession  was  caUed. 


62  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

to  hope  that  gentlemen  of  the  Faculty  will  encourage  the  design 
by  recommending  it  to  their  pupils,  that  pupils  themselves  will 
be  glad  of  such  an  opportunity  of  improvement,  and  that  the 
public  will  think  it  an  object  worthy  of  their  attention  and  patron- 
age. In  order  to  render  these  courses  the  more  extensively  useful, 
we  intend  to  introduce  into  them  as  much  of  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Physic,  of  Pharmacy,  Chemistry  and  Surgery  as  can 
be  conveniently  admitted.  From  all  this,  together  with  an  at- 
tendance on  the  practice  of  the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  the  students  will  be  able  to  prosecute  their 
studies  with  such  advantage  as  will  qualify  them  to  practice  here- 
after with  more  satisfaction  to  themselves  and  benefit  to  the  com- 
munity. The  particular  advertisements  inserted  below  specify  the 
time  when  these  lectures  are  to  commence,  and  contain  the  vari- 
ous subjects  to  be  treated  of  in  each  course,  and  the  terms  on  which 
jjupils  are  to  be  admitted. 

"WILLIAM  SHIPPEN,  JR.,  M.  D., 
"Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia. 

"JOHN  MORGAN,  M.  D.,  F.  E.  S.,  etc., 
"Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  College  of  Philadelphia." 
The  course  announcements  say  that  Dr.  Shippen  begins  on 
November  14th.  He  seems  to  have  used  his  own  anatomical,  rooms^ 
while  Dr.  Morgan's  lectures  were  to  begin  on  the  18th  at  the  Col- 
lege, and  were  the  first  course  on  the  practice  of  medicine  given 
in  the  colonies.  The  former  embrace  sixty  lectures  and  the  latter 
three  lectures  a  week,  Mondays,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  at  three 
o'clock,  for  "between  three  or  four  months."  In  the  first,  "the  situ- 
ation, figure  and  structure  of  all  the  parts  of  the  Human  Body  will 
be  demonstrated  on  the  fresh  subject;  their  respective  uses 
explained,  and  their  Diseases,  with  the  Indications  and  Methods  of 
Cure,  briefly  treated  of;  all  the  necessary  Operations  in  Surgery 
will  be  xjerformed,  a  course  of  Bandages  given,  and  the  whole  will 
conclude  with  a  few  plain  and  general  directions  in  the  Practice 
of  Midwifery."  The  second  were  to  be  on  Materia  Medica,  and  "to 
render   these   lectures   as    instructive    as  possible  to  students  of 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

Physic,  the  Doctor  proposes,  in  the  course  of  them,  to  ui\<-  some 
useful  Observations  <>m  .Medicine  in  general,  and  the  proper  man- 
ner of  conducting  the  study  of  Physic.  The  authors  to  be  read  in  the 
Materia  Medica  will  be  pointed  out.  The  various  substances  made 

use  of  in  Medicine  will  be  reduced  under  Classes  suited  to  the  prin- 
cipa]  indications  in  the  cure  of  Diseases.  Similar  virtues  in  differ- 
ent plants,  and  their  comparative  powers,  will  be  treated  of,  and 
an  Enquiry  made  into  the  different  Methods  which  have  been  used 
in  discovering  the  Qualities  <>f  Medicines;  the  virtues  of  the  most 
efficacious  will  be  particularly  insisted  upon;  the  Mannei-  of  pre- 
paring and  combining  them  will  be  shown  by  some  instructive  Les- 
sons upon  Pharmaceutic  Chemistry:  This  Avill  open  to  student-  a 
general  Idea  both  of  Chemistry  and  Pharmacy.  To  prepare  them 
more  effectually  for  understanding  the  art  of  prescribing  with  Ele- 
gance and  Propriety,  if  time  allows,  it  is  proposed  to  include  in 
this  course  some  critical  Lectures  upon  the  chief  Preparatives  con- 
tained in  the  Dispensatories  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  at 
London  and  Edinburgh.  The  whole  will  be  illustrated  with  many 
useful  Practical  Observations  on  Diseases,  Diet  and  Medicines." 
The  young  school  passed  its  first  year  with  success,  and 
one  of  its  professors,  Dr.  Morgan,  at  the  commencement,  on  May 
20,  17(>(>,  was  honored  with  the  Sargent  gold  medal  of  London  for 
an  essay  on  the  advantages  of  a  perpetual  union  of  Great  Britain 
and  her  American  colonies.  The  following  year  Dr. Bond's  clinical 
lectures,  already  referred  to,  were  added,  and  his  interest  in  the 
school  and  his  ability  combined  led  him  to  continue  them  for  eight- 
een years,  closing  only  with  his  death.  During  the  summer  un  of 
1767  a  more  formal  organization  (v)  with  provision  for  degrees  for 
the  class  that  would  graduate  the  next  May  (1768)  was  made.  This 
provided  for  two  degrees,  Bachelor  and  Doctor:  For  the  former, 
"it  is  required  (1)  that  such  students  as  have  not  taken  a  Degree 
in  any  College  shall,  before  admission  to  a  degree  in  Physic,  satisfy 

(u)    July  27th. 

(vi    This  wns  made  by  the  Provost.  t>r.  Smith,  the  medical  members  of  tin- 
board  and  the  two  medical  professors. 


04  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  Trustees  and  Professors  of  the  College  concerning  their  knowl- 
edge in  the  Latin  tongue,  and  in  such  branches  of  Mathematics, 
Natural  and  Experimental  Philosophy  as  shall  be  judged  requisite 
to  a  medical  education.  (2)  Each  student  shall  attend  at  least  one 
course  of  lectures  in  Anatomy,  Materia  Medica,  Chemistry,  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  and  one  course  of  Clinical  Lectures, 
and  shall  attend  the  Practice  of  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  one 
year,  and  may  then  be  admitted  to  a  Public  examination  for  a 
Bachelor's  Degree,"  preceded  by  private  examination,  and  (3)  satis- 
factory apprenticeship  with  a  practitioner.  The  Doctor's  degree 
could  only  be  obtained  three  years  after  that  of  Bachelor  and  by 
a  man  twenty-four  years  of  age,  who  should  also  prepare  a  thesis, 
somewhat  after  the  manner  of  a  Master's  degree  in  liberal  educa- 
tion, and  it  was  proposed  to  make  the  degree  equal  to  those  of 
Europe.  In  the  following  winter,  Provost  William  Smith  deliv- 
ered a  course  of  lectures  on  Natural  and  Experimental  Philos- 
ophy, beginning  December  28th,  and  in  January,  1768,  a  professor- 
ship in  Materia  Medica  and  Botany  was  created  for  a  young  man 
of  twenty-seven  years,  a  native  of  Germantown,  near  this  city,  who 
had  just  returned  from  Europe  fresh  from  the  teaching  of  the  great 
Linnaeus,  and  with  the  Edinburgh  degree.  This  was  Dr.  Adam 
Kuhn,  and  in  May,  three  months  later,  he  gave  his  first  course  in 
Botany  (w).  On  November  20th,  preceding,  Dr.  Morgan  had  written 
to  a  friend  (x),  "I  have  twenty  pupils  this  year  at  about  five  guineas 

(w)'  Dr.  Kuhn  was  born  Nov.  17,  1741  (old  style),  son  of  a  physician.  Dr.  A.  S. 
Kuhn,  under  whom  he  studied.  In  1761  he  went  to  the  University  of  Upsal,  Swe- 
den, until  about  July,  1764.  After  a  year  in  London  he  went  to  Edinburgh,  where 
he  graduated  on  June  12,  1767,  with  the  thesis  De  Lavatione  Frigida.  He  also 
visited  France,  Holland  and  Germany,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  January. 
1768.  He  soon  had  a  large  practice  and  was  one  of  several  forming  a  society  for 
inoculation  of  the  poor  for  smallpox.  He  became  a  member  of  the  hospital  staff 
in  1775.  and  served  twenty -two  years,  and  was  also  one  of  the  staff  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Dispensary.  In  the  Revolution  he  had  a  long  and  valuable  service  as 
director-general  of  a  hospital  and  otherwise.  He  served  as  both  curator  and  coun- 
cillor of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and  was  a  founder  of  the  College  of 
Physicians.  He  resigned  his  chair  in  the  medical  school  in  1797.  He  died  July  5, 
1817,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  "In  sound  judgment,"  wrote  Dr.  Lettsom  of 
London,  "he  greatly  excelled.  His  talent  for  observation  was  profound.  He  was 
through  life  a  studious  reader." 

(xl     William  Hewson  of  London. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

each.  Next  year  il7<is)  we  shall  confer  the  degree  of  Bachelor  <»f 
Physic  on  several  of  them,  and  thai  <>f  Doctor  in  three  years  after. 
New  York  (y)  lias  copied  us,  and  has  six  1'rofessors,  three  of  whom 
you  know,  to  wit,  Bard,  Professor  <»r  Physic;  Tennant,  <»f  Mid- 
wifery; and  Smith,  in  <  Jhemistry;  besides  whom  are  J>r.  Jones.  Pro- 
fessor of  Surgery;  Middleton,  of  Physiology;  and  (lossy,  of  Anat- 
omy. Time  will  show  in  what  lighte  we  are  to  consider  the  rival- 
ship;  for  my  part,  I  do  not  seem  to  be  under  great  apprehensions.'' 
The  candidates  here  referred  to  were  examined  from  the  !lth  to 
the  16th,  and  publicly  examined  on  the  18th  of  May,  and  on  June 
21,  17G8,  the  first  medfcal  degrees  awarded  in  America  were  those 
of  Bachelors  of  Medicine  conferred  upon  John  Archer  of  Now 
Castle  County,  Benjamin  Cowell  (z)  of  Bucks,  Samuel  iMiftield  and 
Jonathan  Potts  of  Philadelphia,  Jonathan  Elmer  of  New  Jersey, 
Humphrey  Fullerton  of  Lancaster  County,  David  Jackson  of  Ches- 
ter County,  John  Lawrence  of  East  Jersey,  James  Tilton  of  Kent 
County,  Delaware,  and  Nicholas  Way  of  Wilmington.  The  trustees 
grew  enthusiastic  and  recorded  in  their  minutes:  "This  day  may 
be  considered  as  the  Birth-da;/  of  Medical  Honors  in  America."  The 
ceremony  occurred  in  the  College  building  on  Fourth  street 
between  Market  and  Arch,  a  building  which  had  been  erected  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century  before  for  the  great  evangelist,  WhiteriVld. 
Dr.  Morgan  continued  to  be  the  element  of  organizing  power 
behind  the  young  medical  school,  as  Avell  as  the  inspirer  of  various 
other  advances,  such  as  the  establishment  of  the  first  medical 
society  in  1765,  of  which  little  seems  to  have  been  recorded  aside 


(y)  The  medical  department  of  King's  College,  then  so-called,  was  organized  in 
1768,  though  preliminary  measures  were  taken  in  July.  1767.  They  gave  the  iir>r 
Bachelor's  degree  in  17G9,  and  Doctor's  in  1770,  antedating  Philadelphia  in  the 
latter,  but  not  in  the  Bachelor's  degree.  It  was  not  a  real  antedating,  however, 
for  the  differences  between  Bachelor  in  Philadelphia  and  Doctor  in  New  York  was 
only  one  of  name.    Philadelphia's  Doctorate  was  a  Master's  degree  in  medicine. 

(z)  Messrs.  Cowell  and  Fullerton  publicly  debated  whether  or  no  the  seat  of 
vision  was  the  Retina  or  Tunica  Choroides;  Messrs.  Duffield  and  Way  <>n  "Questio 
num  detur  Fluidnm  Nervosum?";  an  Essay  '*On  Respiration"  was  delivered  by  Mr. 
Tilton;  and  Mr.  Potts  delivered  "an  elegant  valedictory  oration"  "On  the  Advan- 
tages derived  in  the  Study  of  Physic,  from  a  previous  liberal  education  in  other 
sciences."  Messrs'.  Potts  and  Tilton  soon  became  prominent  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  the  army. 
5 


0(3  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

from  the  statement  of  its  existence.  He  became  the  intimate  friend 
of  a  brilliant  young  man,  ten  years  his  junior,  who  was  just  finish- 
ing the  last  of  his  six  years'  apprenticeship  under  Dr.  Redman  when 
Dr.  Morgan  was  founding  the  new  school,  and  seems  to  have  prac- 
tically decided  upon  him  as  the  next  addition  to  the  faculty  at  this 
time,  for  he  maintained  an  intimate  correspondence  with  him  dur- 
ing the  three  years  the  young  man  was  in  Edinburgh  and  finally 
secured  his  election.  This  was  Dr.  Benjamin  Eush,  who,  from  his 
entrance  on  his  duties  in  the  year  1769,  was  destined  to  be  not 
only  the  greatest  figure  in  the  history  of  this  school,  but  also  pos- 
sibly in  the  annals  of  American  medicine  itself.  AYhen  funds  were 
required  for  the  College,  Dr.  Morgan  was  selected  by  the  Provost, 
Dr.  William  Smith,  to  make  a  tour  of  the  West  Indies  for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  them,  and  about  three  thousand  pounds  were  the 
proof  of  his  success.  These  aggressive  and  able  organizing  powers 
made  him  the  first  object  of  attention  of  the  authorities  when  a 
medical  director  of  the  newly  raised  Continental  armies  was  needed, 
and,  in  opposition  to  the  judgment  of  his  friends  and  at  a  loss  of 
a  lucrative  practice,  he  accepted  appointment,  on  October  IT,  1775, 
as  Director-General  and  Physician-in-Chief  of  the  American  Hos- 
pital under  Washington.  This  event  was  to  him  the  beginning  of 
woes  unnumbered,  which  form  a  large  part  of  the  medical  history 
of  the  Revolution  itself.  It  is  enough  here  to  state  that  he  satisfied 
his  superior  officer,  General  Washington,  who  himself  was  later 
on  to  be  harassed  by  secret  cabals,  but  nobly  as  he  brought  order 
out  of  chaos,  in  the  effort  to  create  an  army  medical  department 
while  the  army  itself  was  being  created,  his  enemies  were  too  strong 
and  the  shock  of  his  undeserved  dismissal  by  Congress  on  January 
9,  1777,  acknowledged  by  that  body  afterward,  was  so  severe  as  to 
be  the  beginning  of  the  end  to  him.  He  never  recovered  from  it. 
Whether  he  was  right,  or  not,  need  not  be  argued,  and  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  his  dismissal  was  due  to  far  more  enemies 
than  one;  he  attributed  this  injustice  to  his  successor,  Dr.  Shippen, 
who  seems  not  to  have  secured  the  cordial  good  will  of  either  Mor- 
gan or  Rush.     On  the  reorganization  of  the  Medical  school  at  the 


BEN.IAMTN     RT78H. 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  59 

close  of  the  war,  these  two  memorialized  the  Board  on  February 
28,  1781,  objecting  to  serve  if  Dr.  Shippen  wen-  also  i«»  serve.  The 
Heart  I,  however,  strove  for  harmony  and  re-elected  them  all,  though 
Dr.  Morgan  seems  net  t<»  have  performed  the  duties  <»f  the  office  (a). 
In  1  ~sr>  his  wife  died,  Leaving  no  children,  and.  four  years  later, 
after  ( !ongress  had  endeavored  to  repair  the  wTong  it  had  done,  dis- 
appointment had  finished  its  work  and  death  occurred  in  October. 
1789,  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-f our  years.    He  was  buried  en  the  17th 

under  the  middle  aisle  of  St.  Peter's  Church  (b).  His  loss  of  in- 
terest in  his  professorship  was  gradual  and  it  was  held  open  to  him 
until  the  last  year  of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the  original  founders 
of  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  one  of  its  first  board  of  censors, 
and  had  long  been  a  leading  member  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  before  which,  in  the  years  immediately  succeeding  his 
return  from  Europe,  he  had  read  four  papers,  also  serving  as  one 
of  its  curators.  Dr.  Morgan,  however,  seemed  to  be  by  nature  an 
organizer,  one  whose  powers  were  awakened  to  their  highest  opera- 
tion only  in  the  act  of  creation,  and  whatever  else  his  life  produced 
it  is  enough  that  he  founded  the  first  institution  of  medical  educa- 
tion in  America,  and  thus  became  the  father  of  medical  schools  on 
t  his  continent. 

When,  in  1775,  Dr.  Morgan  was  called  to  the  head  of  the  army 
medical  department,  the  medical  department  of  the  college  had 
been  in  existence  ten  years,  and  the  faculty  embraced  five  members, 
with  an  attendance  of  thirty  or  forty  students.  They  were  men- 
tioned in  tlie  announcement  as  follows:  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,  John  Morgan,  M.  D.;  Anatomy,  Surgery  aud  Midwifery, 
William  Shippen,  Jr.,  M.  D.;  Materia  Medica  and  Botany.  Adam 
Kuhn,  M.  D.;  Chemistry,  Benjamin  Rush,  M.  D.;  Clinical  Medicine, 
Thomas  Bond,  M.  D.;  with  lectures  on  Natural  Philosophy  by  the 

ci  i  Much  of  this,  however,  was  due  to  the  disorganized  condition  of  the  school 
itself  in  the  reorganization  of  changing  college  to  university. 

(b)  The  picture  of  Dr.  Morgan  that  is  best  known  is  from  a  painting,  made 
by  Angelica  Kauffman  in  Koine  in  1764,  which  is  in  the  possession  of  relatives  at 
the  old  family  estate,  Morganza,  Pa.  A  good  copy  is  owned  by  the  College  of 
Physicians. 


70  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Provost,  Key.  Dr.  William  Smith.  When  this  list  was  completed 
in  1769,  says  Dr.  Carson,  'like  the  School  itself,  the  Professors 
would,  in  these  days,  be  considered  juvenile;  but  in  the  vigor  of 
their  youth,  they  were  caj>able  of  accomplishing  great  things,  and 
failed  not  in  their  endeavor.  Push  was  but  twenty-four  years  old; 
Kuhn  but  twenty-eight;  Shippen  thirty-three;  and  Morgan  thirty- 
four.  Bond  had  only  arrived  at  the  age  when  experience  is  sup- 
posed to  bring  the  greatest  wisdom;  he  was  over  fifty  years."'  This 
Faculty  was  the  nucleus  of  that  notable  group  of  men  which  arose 
about  the  stalwart  figure  of  Push,  after  the  struggles  of  the  dark 
days  of  the  Revolution,  and  made  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  a  rival  of  Edinburgh  herself.  Indeed> 
the  early  days  of  the  two  schools  were  remarkably  similar:  Mon- 
teith  and  others  had  given  anatomical  lectures  as  early  as  1694  in 
Edinburgh,  as  had  Shippen  and  others  before  him;  Alexander 
Monro  had  been  appointed  to  the  first  professorship,  that  of  the 
Institutes  of  Medicine,  in  1720,  as  Morgan  was  to  his  chair  in  1765; 
Other  professors  were  added  in  1724  and  '26,  as  Shippen,  Bond, 
Kuhn  and  Push  were  in  years  succeeding  Morgan.  Monro  and  his 
confreres  were  educated  in  Leyden  and  adopted  Leyden  methods 
and  the  traditions  of  Boerhaave  until  they  were  modified  by  Cullen, 
as  Morgan  and  his  companions  were  educated  in  Edinburgh, 
adopted  her  traditions  and  the  system  of  Cullen,  until  Push  arose 
to  modify  them;  as  Boerhaave  was  revered  and  followed  at  Edin- 
burgh, so  Cullen  was  revered  and  followed  in  Philadelphia,  and 
Benjamin  Push  became  his  greatest  prophet. 

The  new  medical  department  had  already  begun  to  dominate 
the  medical  profession  of  Philadelphia,  and,  like  the  city  itself,  was 
beginning  to  feel  the  approach  of  the  great  crisis  several  years  be- 
fore it  announced  itself  at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill,  and  also 
before  there  was  attached  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  if 
in  prophecy  of  his  greatness,  the  signature  of  that  one  of  her  faculty 
whom  the  entire  medical  world  still  delights  to  honor.  The  colo- 
nial period  may  be  saidtohaveclosed  in  the  medicalannals  of  Phila- 
delphia when  the  founder  of  her  medical  school  was  called  to  be 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  ;i 

Director-General  of  the  Medical  Departmenl  of  the  Continental 

Army  in   177."). 

Before  thai  period  closed,  however,  there  arose  t<»  prominence 
in  connection  with  the  increased  activity  of  the  medical  school,  a 
new  institution,  of  the  greatesl  medical  interest,  destined  to  rival 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  nol  only  in  the  coming  war,  hut  in  sub- 
sequent medical  history.  This  was  the  hospital  ward  of  the  Alms- 
house, or  "Bettering  House,"  as  it  was  popularly  called.  The  tirsl 
buildings  Of  this  institution  had  been  erected  about  17ol-2  on  the 
'*i:reen  meadows"  surrounded  by  Third,  Fourth,  Spruce  and  Pine 
streets,  and  new  quarters  were  opened  in  1 7 < > 7  several  blocks  due 
westward  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  and  the  streets  before  men- 
tioned, only  the  second  block  west  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  (c). 
The  earliest  record  of  physicians  in  attendance  occurs  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  17C>S,  when  Drs.  Thomas  Bond  and  Cadwalader  Evans 
were  appointed,  although  it  is  altogether  probable  that  it  had  med- 
ical attendance,  and  possibly  a  sick  ward,  as  early  as  its  foundation 
in  the  "green  meadows."  It  was  not,  however,  until  1772,  when  a 
proposition  was  made  to  its  managers  to  increase  its  usefulness 
by  allowing  students  to  be  trained  there,  that  official  measures 
were  taken  to  enlarge  its  staff.  Drs.  Bond  and  Cadwalader 
Evans  had  been  allowed  to  instruct  students  in  an  obstetrical 
clinic  as  early  as  1770  (d),  "the  first  obstetrical  clinic."  On  March 
25,  1774,  however,  Drs.  Adam  Knhn  and  Benjamin  Bush,  profes- 
sors, Samuel    Duffield  (e),  one  of    the  first    graduates,  Gerard  us 

(c)  It  was  removed  to  its  present  quarters  on  the  wesl  bank  of  the  Schuylkill 
in  1834,  where  its  common  name,  Blockley  Hospital,  grew  famous,  and  where  It 
soon,  1835,  received  its  present  name.  Philadelphia  Hospital. 

(d)  Philadelphia  Hospital  Reports,  Vol.  1,  History  by  Drs.  I».  Hayes  Agnew, 
Charles  K.  Mills  and  others. 

(e)  Drs.  Samuel  Duffield,  George  Glentworth  and  Gerardus  Clarkson,  born 
respectively  in  1732.  '35  and  '37,  were  the  real  contemporaries  of  Morgan,  Shippen, 
Rush  and  Knhn.  being  of  almost  the  same  age.  Dr.  Duffield,  of  whom  there  is  little 
record,  was  horn  in  1732,  and  educated  in  Philadelphia,  where  In-  received  his 
degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  of  1768.  He  served  as  curator  and  councillor  in 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,  was  surgeon  in  the  navy  and  superintendent 
of  the  naval  hospital  of  the  province.  In  1777  be  was  elected  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  ami  was  one  of  the  founders  of  tlic  College  of  Physicians. 
He   was  physician   to   the  city   poor,   the   Hoard   of    Health   and   the   Yellow    Fever 


72  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Clarkson  (f)  and  Thomas  Parke  (g),  having  offered  their  services 
gratuitously,  were  chosen  to  the  staff.  The  hospital  department 
of  the  "Bettering  House"  was  now  of  the  first  importance,  both  to 
the  sick  poor  who  had  to  be  sent  to  the  almshouse,  and  as  an  adjunct 
to  medical  education  in  the  new  medical  school.  It  was  to  these 
wards  on  Eleventh  street,  that  the  Acadian  Evangeline,  grown  old, 
sought  her  lover  Gabriel,  and  found  him  dying. 

"Then  in  the  suburbs  it  stood,  in  the  midst  of  meadows  and  woodlands; 
"Now  the  city  surrounds  it;  but  still,  with  its  gateway  and  wicket, 
"Meek,  in  the  midst  of  splendor,  its  humble  walls  seem  to  echo 
"Softly  the  words  of  the  Lord:    'The  poor  ye  always  have  with  you.'  " 

Orphan  Asylum  of  1793.  He  died  in  December,  1814.  He  and  Benjamin  Duffield 
were  of  different  families. 

(f)  Dr.  Gerardus  Clarkson,  a  native  of  New  York  of  1737,  became  the  stepson 
of  the  famous  divine,  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  under  whom  his  education  was  begun. 
After  studying  under  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  he  went  to  Europe  in  1760,  and  after  suc- 
cessful study  returned  to  Philadelphia.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  its  first  treasurer.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  medical  society 
and  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and  served  as  a  trustee  of  the  Univer- 
sity. He  was  "a  pious,  affectionate,  modest,  beloved  physician,"  and  died  on 
September  19,  1790. 

(g)  Dr.  Thomas  Parke,  the  youngest  of  the  staff,  was  only  twenty-five,  born  in 
Chester  County,  Pa.,  in  1719  (old  style).  The  classical  teacher,  Robert  Proud,  of 
this  city,  educated  him  and  Dr.  Cadwalader  Evans  was  his  preceptor  for  three 
years,  after  which,  in  1770,  the  new  college  gave  him  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Medicine.  Then  after  two  years,  1771-3,  in  London  and  Edinburgh,  he  returned  to 
practice  in  partnership  with  his  preceptor.  In  1777  he  became  one  of  the  staff 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  served  for  forly-five  years.  He  was  the  last  of 
the  founders  of  the  College  of  Physicians  to  become  its  president,  and  he  also  served 
as  a  curator  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society.  He  was  one  of  those  who  did 
noble  service  in  the  pestilence  of  1793,  and  was  known  among  his  medical  brethren 
as  "truly  a  peacemaker,"  a  man  of  solid  qualities  rather  than  brilliance.  He  died 
January  9,  1835. 


CHAPTEK  II. 

THE    REVOLUTIONARY    PERIOD — 1 775    TO     1825. 

N  APRIL,  1775,  after  arms  had  been  gathered  by  Dr.  Joseph 
Warren,  president  of  the  provincials,  hostilities  opened. 
The  attack  was  began  by  the  English  on  the  night  of  the 
18th,  and  early  the  following  morning  Warren  sent  three 
messengers,  Dr.  Samuel  Prescott,  Paul  Revere  and  William 
Dawes,  to  arouse  the  neighboring  people.  In  this  mission  Dr.  Pr<  s- 
cott  alone  succeeded,  Revere  and  Dawes  being  captured  by  a  pari  \ 
of  British  soldiers.  Dr.  John  Brooks  led  his  militia  against  the  Brit- 
ish at  North  Bridge,  and  nine  other  physicians  that  day  bore  arms 
or  gave  medical  aid.  The  sick  and  wounded  were  carried  to  private 
houses,  which  were  used  as  hospitals.  A  provincial  army  was  gath- 
ered about  Boston,  and  on  the  8th  of  May  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  examine  surgeons  (a).  On  June  19th,  Drs.  Church,  Tay- 
lor and  Whiting  were  given  charge  of  medical  arrangements.  <  >n 
the  19th  of  July  the  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia  also 
appointed  a  committee  of  three  to  discuss  the  subject,  and  two  days 
later  Washington  wrote  from  Cam})  Cambridge  of  the  pressing  ne- 
cessity in  that  quarter  for  a  medical  director.  On  July  27th  a  tem- 
porary system  was  adopted,  suitable  for  an  army  of  20,000  men,  and 
Dr.  Benjamin  Church,  who  had  been  a  confidential  agent  from  that 
province  to  Congress,  was  elected  director  and  physician  of  the 
hospital  department.    Beside  him  there  wore  to  be  four  surgeons, 

(a)  This  was  the  first  examining  board  of  the  Continental  armies,  .in.]  that 
they  at  ouce  instituted  a.  high  standard  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  but  eight 
out  of  the  first  fourteen  recommended  surgeons  were  accepted.  Dr.  Church  was 
:it  the  head  <>f  tins  committee.  From  that  day.  May  S.  177."..  this  high  standard 
lias  been  maintained. 


74  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

one  apothecary,  twenty  surgeon's  mates,  one  clerk,  and  two  store- 
keepers; and  to  every  ten  of  the  sick,  one  nurse.    The  duty  of  the 
director  was  "to  furnish  medicines,  bedding,  and  all  other  neces- 
saries, to  pay  for  the  same,    superintend   the   whole,    and    make 
report  to  and  receive  orders  from  the  commander-in-chief."     Dr. 
Church  was  to  appoint  the  surgeons,  and  they  to  choose  their  mates. 
Each  regiment  had  its  surgeon,  who  was  to  care  for  such  sick  as 
were  not  ill  enough  to  be  sent  to  the  general  hospital.    These  sur- 
geons immediately  began  to  complain  of  their  supplies,  their  rela- 
tive rank,  and  various  other  matters,  and  thus  began  within  the 
department  a  conflict  that  grew  fiercer  and  fiercer,  until  someoue 
had  to  be  sacrificed.    It  seemed  that  the  policy  of  organization  had 
to  be  almost  fought  out,  and  the  rivalry  of  the  regimental  surgeons 
and  their  jealousy  of  the  Director-General,  combined  with  meager 
supplies,  all  resulted  in  an  order  for  an  investigation,  September 
7th.  This  order  stated  that,  "Repeated  complaints  being  made  by  the 
Eegimental  Surgeons,  that  they  are  not  allowed  proper  necessaries 
for  the  use  of  the  sick,  before  they  became  fit  objects  for  the  Gen- 
eral Hospital,  and  the  Director-General  of  the  Hospital  complains 
that,  contrary  to  the  rule  of  every  established  Army,  these  Eegi- 
mental Hospitals  are  more  expensive  than  can  be  conceived,  which 
plainly  indicates  that  there  is  either  an  unpardonable  abuse  on 
one  side,  or  an  inexcusable  neglect  on  the  other."     During  all  of 
September  the  investigation  lingered,  when,  to  the  amazement  of 
all  concerned,  a  new  and  disgraceful  development  closed  further 
need  for  it,  as  far  as  the  Director-General  was  concerned.     On 
October  5th  General  Washington  wrote  to  Congress  that  a  court- 
martial  trial  had  proved  that  Dr.  Church  had  either  unwisely  or 
treasonably  carried  on  a  cipher  correspondence  with  the  enemy. 
Congress  ordered  his  confinement,  and  later  he  embarked  for  the 
West  Indies  on  a  vessel  which  was  never  heard  of  again.   Twelve 
days  after  Washington's  letter  was  written,  Congress  at  Philadel- 
phia considered  three  names  with  the  view  of  appointing  a  suc- 
cessor to  the  late  Director-General.  These  were  Dr.  John  Morgan, 
the  founder  of  the  new  medical  school  at  the  continental  capital. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  75 

Dr.  [saac  Foster,  surgeon  of  ih<*  hospital  in  Cambridge,  and  <>ii<- 
of  the  army  surgeons,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hand,  another  IVnnsyl- 

vanian.    Dr.  Morgan  w;is  chosen  <»n  the  lTih  of  October,  less  than 

* 
three  months  after  the  organization  was  effected.  Of  his  appoint- 
ment, J>r.  J.  M.  Toner  (b)  says:  "The  success  which  had  attended 
the  medical  department  of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  under  his 
guidance  was  of  itself  a  first-class  endorsement.  His  ability  as 
a  surgeon,  his  character  as  a  man,  his  patriotism,  and  his  Influence 
as  a  citizen  were  well  known  to  the  public.  Therefore  no  more 
fitting  appointment  of  chief  medical  officer  could  have  been  made." 
He  had  from  the  first,  and  never  lost,  the  earnest  sympathy,  sup- 
port and  confidence  of  Washington,  and  on  receiving  his  com- 
mission at  once  reported  to  headquarters  at  Cambridge,  lie  found 
that  of  the  army  of  19,365  men  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston 
2, Si  7  were  sick,  and  that  smallpox,  typhus  and  typhoid  fevers, 
diarrhoea  and  dysentery  were  rife.  "He  set  to  work,"  says  one 
account  (c),  "to  introduce  more  systematic  arrangements  in  the 
management  of  the  hospitals;  the  wards  were  cleaned  out,  and 
men  sent  back  to  their  regiments,  the  number  of  surgeon's  mates 
in  hospital  reduced,  and  the  surplus  officers  transferred  t<> 
vacancies  in  the  regiment,  and  he  subjected  the  medical  officers  to 
another  medical  examination  and  caused  those  who  were  disqual- 
ified to  be  discharged."  Congress  referred  all  appointments  t<» 
him  and,  notwithstanding  the  approaching  winter  and  scanty  sup- 
plies, together  with  the  alarming  increase  in  smallpox,  the 
department  was  beginning  to  appear  well  ordered.  The  difficulty 
in  obtaining  supplies  was  so  great  that  Dr.  Morgan  was  com- 
pelled to  appeal  to  the  "Publick."  This  difficulty  was  experienced 
in  every  department  of  the  army,  but  was  more  glaring  in  the 
presence  of  physical  suffering.  This,  however,  seems  to  have  been 
more  or  less  relieved.  A  more  serious  difficulty  was  the  increas- 
ing jealousy  of  his  powers  of  appointment  and  direction,  which 
were  so  great  that  Congress  was  compelled  to  modify  them  and 

(b)    Medical  Men  of  the  Revolution, 
(e)    Brown's  Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army. 


70  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

give  more  authority  to  the  regimental  surgeons.  The  chief  dif- 
ficulty, however,  arose  in  the  army  created  under  General  Schuyler 
during  the  summer,  to  operate  with  the  Canadians  above  Albany 
and  with  a  fleet  to  be  raised  on  the  lakes.  His  sick  were  gathered 
in  a  hospital  at  Ticonderoga,  and  on  August  5th  he  wrote  that,  as 
one-fifth  of  his  500  men  were  sick,  he  should  be  compelled  to 
secure  a  surgeon  in  Albany  to  take  charge  of  them.  This  he  did  on 
the  27th  following,  nearly  two  months  before  Dr.  Morgan's  appoint- 
ment. This  surgeon,  a  native  of  Maryland  who  had  been  edu- 
cated at  Philadelphia,  was  Dr.  Samuel  Stringer,  and  on  the  14th  of 
September,  while  the  Church  investigation  was  going  on,  he  was 
commissioned  by  Congress,  Director  of  the  Hospital  and  Physician 
for  the  Northern  Department,  as  General  Schuyler's  army  was 
called,  with  power  to  appoint  as  many  as  four  surgeon's  mates, 
otherwise  to  be  under  the  Director-General.  Congress  itself,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  be  uncertain  as  to  the  powers  necessary  for  the 
Northern  Department  to  do  its  work,  and  finally  increased  them 
and  also  appointed  a  naval  surgeon  for  the  lakes.  A  conflict  of 
authority  now  arose  between  Drs.  Morgan  and  Stringer,  neither 
of  whom  was  the  real  cause  of  it.  Stringer  conceived  his  position 
to  have  the  same  relation  to  Schuyler's  command  that  Morgan's 
had  to  Washington's,  and  as  he  had  been  in  service  before  Mor- 
gan was  appointed,  and  Congress  was  changeable  in  its  direc- 
tions, he  insisted  on  an  equality  of  position,  although  the  law 
was  plain  as  to  Morgan's  headship  of  the  whole  medical  depart- 
ment. During  the  winter,  while  both  the  New  England  and  New 
York  armies  were  strengthening  their  forces,  the  friction  seemed 
to  be  in  abeyance,  but  when,  in  the  middle  of  March  (1776),  the 
British  began  to  withdraw  from  Boston  beaten,  and  to  advance 
upon  New  York,  the  removal  of  operations  southward  made  the 
situation  in  the  medical  department  more  acute  than  ever,  not 
only  from  this  but  from  new  rivalries.  New  armies  had  been 
raised  to  the  southward,  where  the  British  had  attacked  and 
burned  Norfolk,  Virginia.  The  Southern  Department  was  now 
organized  with  its  general  hospital  at  Williamsburg,  Virginia. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Indeed,  by  this  t  i i n< *  there  were  five  army  departments,  Eastern, 
Northern,  Canadian,  Middle  and  Southern,  though  there  seems 
to  have  been   but   three   general    hospitals.      Washington     now 

began  to  move  toward  New  York,  and  on  April  3rd  I  >r.  Morgan 
was  directed  to  transfer  the  general  hospital  to  thai  city.  This 
was  done  successfully,  and  the  hospitals  were  soon  in  excellent 
order.    Meanwhile,  Dr.  Morgan  had  recommended  changes  in  the 

organization  i<»  adapt  it  to  any  increase  in  the  army.  He  advised 
the  appointment  of  a  surgeon  and  five  mates  to  every  five  thou- 
sand men,  with  other  provisions  making  the  department  to  consist. 
of  a  director-general,  directors  of  each  hospital,  and  other  officers 
as  before,  with  a  complete  system  of  reports  and  responsibilities. 
This  plan  was  adopted  by  Congress  on  July  17th,  but  Dr.  Stringer 
was  so  determined  in  his  encroachments,  that  Congress  was  com- 
pelled to  define  his  position,  in  an  act  of  August  20th,  to  the 
effect  that:  "Dr.  Morgan  was  appointed  Director-General  and 
Physician-in-Chief  of  the  American  Hospital  (d).  That  Dr.  Stringer 
was  appointed  Director  and  Physician  of  the  Hospital  in  the 
Northern  Department  only.''  At  the  same  time,  a  druggist  was 
appointed  at  Philadelphia  to  act  as  purveyor  of  supplies  for  the 
whole  medical  department,  Dr.  William  Smith,  later  on  Arch 
street,  between  Front  and  Second  streets,  being  the  appointee. 

Seven  days  after  this  law  was  passed,  came  the  disastrous 
battle  of  Long  Island,  in  which  Washington  lost  nearly  a  thousand 
men  and  was  compelled  to  leave  New  York.  Dr.  Morgan  made 
special  arrangements  for  hospitals  in  anticipation  of  the  action, 
but  all  plans  were  now  disorganized,  and  hospitals  were  scattered 
up  the  Hudson  at  Peekskill,  Avhich  seemed  to  be  Morgan's  head* 
quarters,  at  Fishkill  and  other  places.  Albany  was  full  of  the  sick. 
The  battles  of  Harlem  Plains  on  September  Kith,  White  Plains 
on  the  26th,  the  loss  of  Fort  Washington  on  November  Kith  and 

(,d)  As  Washington's  was  the  largest  and  the  main  army,  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment under  him  was  of  course  the  main  one.  This  army  was  always  spoken  of 
as  the  Continental  Army,  although  Washington  had  charge  of  all.  so  this  manm  r 
of  speaking  of  the  "American  Hospital"  was  used  in  the  same  way.  Other 
hospitals  were  divisions  of  it. 


78  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  Fort  Lee  two  days  later,  drove  the  disheartened  army  into  win- 
ter quarters  in  New  Jersey.  These  events  raised  up  armies 
instantly  all  through  the  middle  colonies,  and  the  camps  and  hos- 
pitals became  largely  concentrated  in  this  region.  Meanwhile,  as 
early  as  October  9th,  the  new  army  in  New  Jersey  had  needed  a 
hospital,  and  Congress,  so  far  as  is  known,  without  consulting 
either  General  Washington  or  Dr.  Morgan,  appointed  Dr.  William 
Shippen,  Jr.,  to  be  director  not  only  of  the  hospitals  in  that 
state,  but  also  of  the  flying  camp  and  Jersey  militia.  This  act 
seemed  plainly  intended  to  reduce  Dr.  Morgan  to  some  approach 
to  an  equality  with  the  new  appointee.  It  decreed,  "That  no  regi- 
mental hospitals  be  for  the  future  allowed  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  general  hospital.  That  John  Morgan,  Esq.,  provide  and  super- 
intend an  hospital  at  a  proper  distance  from  the  camp  for  the  army 
posted  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's  Eiver.  That  William  Shippen, 
Jr.,  Esq.,  provide  and  superintend  an  hospital  for  an  army  in 
The  State  of  New  Jersey,"  and  that  they  each  make  weekly  returns 
to  Congress  and  the  commander-in-chief.  The  appointment 
"seems,"  says  Dr.  J.  M.  Toner,  "to  have  been  brought  about  by 
the  general  discontent  of  the  people  and  the  army,  and  by  the 
friends  of  Dr.  Shippen,  who  had  influence  with  Congress,  and  pos- 
sibly his  own  solicitation.  The  resolution  of  Congress  in  October, 
which  enlarged  his  authority  and  power,  would  seem  to  give  color 
to  this  hypothesis.  His  view  of  the  duties  assigned  him  by  Con- 
gress Avas  not  promptly  acquiesced  in,  or  understood  in  the  same 
way,  by  commanders  generally,  and  led  him  to  write  complainingly 
on  the  subject  to  General  Washington.  The  General's  reply  not 
being  satisfactory,  he  then  wrote  on  the  same  subject,  and  com- 
plains to  Congress,  and  even  reflects  on  the  course  of  Dr.  Morgan 
and  General  Washington.  Dr.  Shippen's  letters  are  diplomatic, 
and  show  that  he  felt  confident  that  he  and  Congress  had  come  to 
an  understanding  on  the  subject  of  the  future  medical  management 
of  the  hospital  department/' 

The  wavering  attitude  of  Congress  in  not  enforcing  the  medi- 
cal system  it  had  adopted,  was  in  a  large  measure  due  to  the  pres- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

sure  of  the  regimental  surgeons  who  had  the  sympathy  of  their 
Colonels  in  resisting  what  they  regarded  as  the  policy  of  building 
up  tli«-  general  hospital  system  al  the  expense  of  the  regimental 
servicej  and  also  to  th<'  rivalry  of  directors  of  hospitals,  supported 
by  their  Generals,  who  desired  their  departments  to  be  practically 
Lndependenl  of  all  authority  but  thai  of  Congress.  A  frank  and 
manly  letter  from  Dr.  Morgan,  even  so  early  as  Augusl  L2th,  in 
regard  to  appointments  he  had  made  in  the  Northern  Department, 
illustrates  certain  features  of  the  situation:  "After  all  l  have 
said,"  he  writes  the  President  of  Congress,  "I  cheerfully  submit 
the  propriety  of  my  conduct  in  making  the  before-mentioned  ap- 
pointments in  the  general  hospitals,  and  am  desirous  of  conform- 
ing strictly  to  my  instructions.  If  I  have  exceeded  niy  com  mis- 
sion, it  has  been  for  want  of  knowing  the  designs  and  resolves 
of  Congress,  or  their  being  misunderstood.  Should  the  Congress 
on  that  footing  annul  my  appointments  and  make  others,  1  must 
at  least  stand  acquitted  of  intentionally  going  beyond  the  line 
of  duty;  and  it  will  behoove  Congress  to  be  more  explicit  in 
respect  to  its  intentions,  for  if  the  Congres  does  not  suppose  the 
appointment  of  any  new  surgeon  rests  with  me,  of  what  use  is 
it  to  recommend  one  to  me  for  my  approbation?  I  must  pay  an 
implicit  obedience  to  their  simple  recommendation.  In  that  case, 
I  do  not  imagine  there  will  be  the  same  security  for  harmony,  or 
for  having  the  business  of  the  hospital  so  well  executed,  as  where 
the  choice  of  surgeons  is  left  to  the  Director-General,  which  is 
an  additional  incentive  to  industry  and  an  obliging  behavior  in  the 
surgeon  thus  freely  elected  to  approve  himself  worthy  of  the  choice. 
Me  that  as  it  may,  whenever  the  path  of  duty  is  plain,  1  shall 
endeavor  to  walk  steadily  in  it,  having  no  design  or  inclination  to 
exceed  those  bounds  which  the  good  of  the  service  or  the  wisdom 

of  Congress  may  prescribe  to  ine."  <>n  the  24th  of  September, 
Washington  thus  described  the  situation  in  a  letter  to  Congress 
in  unmistakable  language.  "No  less  attention  should  be  paid," 
said  he,  "to  the  choice  of  surgeons  than  other  officers  of  the  army. 
They  should  undergo  a  regular  examination,  and  if  not  appointed 


80  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

by  the  Director-General  and  surgeons  of  the  hospital,  they  ought 
to  be  subordinate  to,  and  governed  by,  his  directions.  The  regi- 
mental surgeons  I  am  speaking  of,  many  of  whom  are  very  great 
rascals,  countenancing  the  men  in  sham  complaints  to  exempt 
them  from  duty,  and  often  receiving  bribes  to  certify  indisposi- 
tions with  a  view  to  procure  discharges  or  furloughs.  But  in- 
dependent of  these  practices,  while  they  are  considered  as  un- 
connected with  the  general  hospital,  there  will  be  nothing  but 
continual  complaints  of  each  other — the  director  of  the  hospital 
charging  them  with  enormity  in  their  drafts  for  the  sick,  and  they 
him  for  denying  such  things  as  are  necessary.  In  short,  there  is 
a  constant  bickering  among  them  which  tends  greatly  to  the  in- 
jury of  the  sick,  and  will  always  subsist  until  the  regimental  sur- 
geons are  made  to  look  up  to  the  Director-General  of  the  hospital 
as  a  superior.  Whether  this  is  the  case  in  regular  armies  or 
not,  I  cannot  undertake  to  say;  but  certain  I  am,  there  is  a  neces- 
sity for  it  in  this,  or  the  sick  will  suffer.  The  regimental  surgeons 
are  aiming,  I  am  persuaded,  to  break  up  the  General  Hospital, 
and  have  in  numberless  instances  drawn  from  medicines,  stores, 
etc.,  in  the  most  profuse  and  extravagant  manner  for  private  pur- 
poses." 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  extracts,  that  beside  the  purposes  of 
Dr.  Stringer  in  the  Northern  Department  there  was  a  new  element 
of  even  more  formidable  dimensions  entering  into  the  situation 
when,  on  November  1st,  Dr.  Shippen  reported  to  Congress  con- 
cerning his  sick  at  Perth  Amboy,  Elizabethtown,  Fort  Lee,  Bruns- 
wick and  Trenton,  as  follows:  "I  have  not  yet  taken  charge  of 
near  two  thousand  that  are  scattered  up  and  down  the  country 
in  cold  barns,  and  who  suffer  exceedingly  for  want  of  com- 
fortable apartments,  because  Dr.  Morgan  does  not  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  honorable  Congress  in  their  late  resolve,  and 
believes  yet  they  are  to  be  under  his  direction,  although  they  are 
on  this  side  Hudson's  Biver.  He  is  now  gone  over  to  take  General 
Washington's  opinion;  as  soon  as  I  review  the  General's  orders  on 
this    subject,    I    shall    exert    my    best    abilities    to    make    the 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  81 

miserable  soldiery  comfortable  and  happy/'  <>n  the  3rd,  Wash- 
ington li;nl  written  i<>  him,  "it.  is  my  desire  thai  they  may  remain 
under  his  (Dr.  Morgan's)  direction,"  and  on  the  9th  Dr.  Shippen 
wrote  to  Congress  for  further  directions,  saying  he  had  not  taken 
any  of  the  Continental  army's  sick,  "because  Dr.  Morgan  differs 
in  opinion  with  me  concerning  the  meaning  of  Congress,  and 
because  General  Washington  desires  they  may  remain  under  his 
care,  as  you  will  see  from  the  enclosed  letter  from  his  Excellency, 
the  General,  who  makes  no  distinction  between  my  appointment 
in  July  and  your  resolves  in  October,  and,  in  my  opinion,  lias  not 
seen  the  latter,  which  expressly  says  all  the  sick  on  this  side 
of  the  North  River  shall  be  under  my  care  and  direction." 

The  repeated  defeats  of  the  Continental  Army  cause*  1  gen- 
eral dissatisfaction,  as  was  but  natural.  Washington's  policy  was 
severely  and  openly  criticised  by  Adams,  aud  more  secretly  con- 
demned by  the  noted  Coinvay  Cabal.  Mismanagement  was  nowhere 
more  apparent:  than  in  the  Medical  Department.  But  when. 
in  November,  Dr.  Morgan  was  upheld  by  Washington,  and  Dr. 
Shippen  by  the  members  of  Congress  who  were  unfriendly  to  tin- 
General,  it  needed  only  the  concentration  of  troops  in  the  Con- 
tinental capital,  the  mingling  of  officers  and  congressmen  in  Phil- 
adelphia society,  and  the  large  proportion  of  sick  in  the  city,  to 
bring  about  a  better  condition  of  affairs.  Decided  action  was 
taken  during  December,  when  the  first  considerable  movement  of 
the  sick  toward  the  capital  was  directed  by  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  Jr. 
(e),  who  had  immediate  charge  of  the  hospitals  at  Elizabethtown. 
and  who  had  proposed  the  plan  of  establishing  hospitals  at  1  >arby, 
Marcus  Hook,  Wilmington  and  New  Castle,  rather  than  at  Betii- 
lehem,  Reading,  Lancaster,  Bristol  and  other  inland  towns.  Tie 
former  plan  was  preferable  on  account  of  the  more  convenient 
transportation  bjr  water  which  it  involved.  General  Mi  hi  in  had 
directed  Dr.  Bond  to  load  the  sick  on  transports  and  go  to  Phila- 

(e)    Dr.  Thomas  Boud.  Jr..  of  whom  there  seems  to  be  little  record,  was  8UT 
£Con  of  Gen.  John  Cadwalnder's  original  battalion  of  the  Revolution,   rose  -t . .   l..- 
an  assistant  director-general,   and    in    1781   was  chosen    medical    purveyor   of    ih« 
entire  army. 


82  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

delphia,  so  that  Dr.  Bond.,  Jr.,  wrote  to  his  father  asking  him  to 
request  the  Council  of  Safety  to  prepare  for  them.  He  suggested 
the  use  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  other  buildings,  and 
on  December  4th,  the  memorable  founder  of  that  hospital  presented 
his  son's  letter  to  the  Council,  with  a  most  touching  offer  of  his 
own  services,  saying:  "When  I  see  so  many  of  friends  and  valu- 
able citizens  exposing  themselves  to  the  horrors  of  war,  I  think 
it  my  duty  to  make  them  a  tender  of  the  best  service  in  my  power, 
upon  the  condition  that  I  can  have  the  joint  assistance  of  my 
son  in  the  great  undertaking,  who,  I  am  certain,  you  will  find 
on  inquiry,  has  already  distinguished  himself  in  this  department. 
As  I  am  told  many  of  the  sick  are  near  the  city,  the  sooner  the 
matter  is  concluded  on  the  better."  The  next  day  these  sug- 
gestions were  acted  upon  favorably  and  the  sick  troops,  who  were 
already  arriving  daily,  were  provided  for.  This  general  movement 
brought  out  nearly  all  the  medical  talent  in  Philadelphia  that  was 
not  already  in  service. 

It  was  thoroughly  evident,  even  in  December,  that  Congress 
was  taking  the  direction  of  the  war  more  and  more  into  its  own 
hands,  and  became  still  more  so  while  Cornwallis  was  forcing 
Washington  over  the  Delaware  into  Pennsylvania.  It  was  also 
plain  that  it  was  directing  the  medical  department  with  a  large 
degree  of  independence  of  former  laws.  The  jealous  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence of  the  provinces  made  it  necessary  to  allow  both  provin- 
cial and  Continental  armies,  and  this  also  caused  confusion  in  the 
medical  departments.  The  inland  towns  were  finally  chosen  as  hos- 
pital sites  in  preference  to  those  on  the  river,  and  on  December  3rd, 
the  Moravian  Brethren  at  Bethlehem  received  word  from  Dr.  John 
Warren,  who  signed  himself  "General  Surgeon  of  the  Continental 
Hosp.,"  that  by  General  Washington's  direction  they  were  to  pre- 
pare buildings  for  the  "General  Hospital,"  (f)  and  later,  on  the  same 
day,  Drs.  Warren  and  Shippen  came  and  secured  the  "Brethren's 
House,"  while  on  the  day  following,  250  sick  were  installed.  Of 
these  110  died  before  the  winter  closed.     It  would  seem  from  a 

(f)    Moravian  Souvenir.     Prof.  W.  C.  Reiehel. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

journal  already  referred  to  ill')  thai  l>r.  Morgan  must  have  been  at 
Bethlehem  during  the  nexl  few  weeks  in  December.  This  appears 
from  the  following  extract:  "1777,  January  8,  Dr.  Morgan  and 
surgeons  received  orders  to  repair  to  the  army  in  New  England." 

The  meaning  of  (his  heroines  evident  when  it  is  known  that  on  the 
day  following,  January  it,  1777,  Congress  "resumed  the  considera- 
tion of  the  medical  committee,  whereupon,  Resolved,  that  Dr.  John 
Morgan,  Director-General,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Stringer,  Director  of 
the  Bospital  in  the  Northern  department  of  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  be  and  they  are  hereby  dismissed  from  any  further 
service  in  said  offices,"  and  that  a  general  invoice  should  be 
returned  to  Congress  from  the  departments.  The  immediate  occa- 
sion of  this  was  the  persistent  refusal  of  Dr.  Stringer,  supported 
by  General  Schuyler,  to  be  subordinate  to  the  Director-General. 
This  insubordination  was  carried  so  far  that  he  refused  to  make 
returns  or  enroll  or  pay  surgeons  that  were  sent  to  him.  The 
blow  had  fallen  on  Dr.  Morgan,  who  had  not  failed  to  do  his  duty, 
and  that,  too,  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  superior,  the  head  of  the 
army.  "His  reputation,"  says  the  late  Dr.  Toner,  a  writer  who 
has  made  the  most  careful  study  of  the  whole  subject,  "was  sacri- 
ficed, and  his  eminent  abilities  lost  to  his  country." 

When  it  is  recalled  that  republican  government  in  this  coun- 
try was  in  the  experimental  stage,  and  that  majority  government, 
with  its  peculiar  weaknesses,  had  been  voluntarily  chosen  be- 
cause of  its  freedom  and  safety,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  seri- 
iously  impugn  the  motives  of  any  one  of  those  concerned  in  these 
events.  In  all  majority  governments  there  is  always  ground  for 
honest  difference  of  opinion  as  to  policy,  method  and  execution, 
and  each  opinion  has  perfect  right  to  endeavor  to  secure  a  ma- 
jority. Nor  is  the  heated  recrimination  of  such  a  period  of  special 
value  for  a  true  historical  perspective.  When,  on  December  17th, 
not  long  after  his  arrival  at  Bethlehem,  Dr.  Shippen  wrote  to 
Colonel  Ilichard  Henry  Lee,  of  Congress,  proposing  a  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  whole  medical  wing  of  the  army  on  independent  de- 
(ff)    Moravian  Souvenir.    Prof.  W.  C.  Reichel. 


84  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

partinent  lines  responsible  to  Congress,  lie  voiced  for  medicine 
only  what  others  were  demanding  in  other  lines.  He  proposed 
three  independent  departments,  corresponding  to  the  Northern, 
Middle  and  Southern  armies,  and  "to  each  of  these  the  following 
officers:"  One  director  and  surgeon-general,  three  assistant  di- 
rectors, ten  surgeons  or  physicians,  twenty  mates,  one  apothecary- 
general  and  four  mates,  one  quartermaster-general  and  three  dep- 
uties (to  every  hundred  sick),  and  other  subordinate  officers  in 
proportion.  He  adds:  "The  director-general  and  sub-directors  to 
be  chosen  by  Congress;  the  physicians,  surgeons  and  apothecaries 
by  the  directors;  the  mates  by  the  physicians  and  surgeons  after 
a  strict  examination;  all  other  officers  by  the  directors.  Not  less 
than  this,  in  my  opinion,  will  induce  men  properly  qualified  to 
engage;  and  any  other  will  be  dear  at  any  price."  This  plan  was 
abandoned  before  the  ensuing  spring,  when  General  Washington 
secured  the  admission  into  the  service  of  Dr.  John  Cochran  of  Xew 
Jersey,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Shippen,  formulated  a  plan 
almost  wholly  patterned  after  the  complicated  system  of  the  Brit- 
ish army,  in  which  the  numerous  distinctions  of  social  rank  had 
created  a  profusion  of  offices.  It  was  probably  a  compromise  be- 
tween the  independent  spirit  of  the  provinces  and  Washington's 
desire  for  a  unified  service.  In  accepting  this  plan,  which  pro- 
vided for  a  director-general  of  the  whole  service,  three,  for  each  of 
the  three  departments,  a  deputy  director-general,  a  physician-gen- 
eral, a  surgeon-general,  and  an  apothecary-general,  an  assist- 
ant director  and  commissary  for  each  of  the  hospitals, 
senior  physicians  and  surgeons,  second  surgeons,  mates,  stew- 
ards and  nurses,  and  likewise  a  physician  and  surgeon-gen- 
eral for  each  army  to  have  control  over  the  regimental  surgeons 
and  their  mates,  General  Washington,  in  qualified  terms,  said: 
"The  number  of  officers  mentioned  in  the  enclosed  plan,  I  pre- 
sume are  necessary  for  us,  because  they  are  found  so  in  the  British 
hospitals."  The  plan  was  adopted  on  April  11th,  (1777)  next.  Dr. 
Shippen  was  chosen  director-general  of  all  the  service;  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Bush,  who  had  left  Congress,  was  chosen  surgeon-general 


[N  PHILADELPHIA. 

of  the  hospital  of  the  middle  departmenl  (g)j  and  Dp.  John  Coch- 
ran, physician  and  surgeon-genera]  (>f   the  army  of  thai   depart 
infill ;  while  other  surgeons  from  various  parts  of  the  Land  were 
selected  to  till  the  remaining  offices. 

Prom  the  above,  ii  is  manifesl  thai  the  chief  control  of  t h«- 
Medical  Departmenl  of  the  Revolutionary  Army  wslb  in  the 
hands  of  Philadelphia  men,  and  thai  an  accounl  of  their  admin- 
istration of  its  affairs  is  practically  identical  with  the  medical  his- 
tory of  iliis  period.  Dr.  Shippen  was  handicapped  from  the  first 
by  being  the  objecl  of  fierce  resentmenl  from  the  friends  of 
Morgan,  but  a  man  who  had  coolly,  but  wit  h  iron  will,  faced  host  Lie 
public  sentiment  when  introducing  men  accoucheurs  and  dissec 
tions  of  (ho  human  body,  was  not  to  bo  easily  diverted  from  his 
purpose.  The  attacks  upon  him  were  even  more  malignant  than 
those  upon  Morgan,  and  scarcely  any  more  outrageous  are  re- 
corded in  the  annals  of  ward  politics.  The  passions  of  war,  how- 
ever, should  not  divert  attention  from  careful  consideration  of  con- 
ditions that  were  far  more  fruitful  of  explanation  of  events  than 
passions.  Results  must  never  be  measured  aside  from  conditions, 
and  as  the  events  of  the  fatal  year  of  1777  move  on,  one  must  be  pre- 
pared for  a  condition  of  things  that  has  never  been  paralleled  in 
this  country  except  in  the  South  during  the  civil  war.  Strictures 
that  have  been  passed  upon  the  medical  department  of  this  period 
seem  to  have  been  based  far  more  largely  on  the  records  of  re- 
crimination than  upon  general  conditions  of  the  whole  army  and 
the  entire  country  as  well.  Revolutionists  are  not  generally  a 
people  of  luxuries  and  rarely  of  sufficient  necessities  to  keep  even 
the  vigorous  from  hardships  and  suffering.  When  gentlewomen  of 
the  land  are  foregoing  even  what  would  be  common  necessities 
in  ordinary  times,  a  war  hospital  is  not  to  be  compared  with  one 
in  a  city  in  times  of  peace.  The  British  were  aiming  at  Phil- 
adelphia, and  it  was  a  wise  foresight  that  sent  the  hospitals  inland, 
although  this  measure  was  bound  to  increase  suffering.     The  gen- 

(g)    Dr.  Rush  was  transferred  t<»  lie  physician-general  of  the  same  hospital  on 
July  1st  following,  to  till  the  place  of  a  resignation; 


86  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

eral  hospital  (h)  at  Bethlehem,  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  Director-General  Shippen,  whose  headquarters  for  two  consid- 
erable periods  were  in  that  town,  may  well  serve  as  a  type  of  the 
army  hospitals  of  the  Eevolution.  It  is  true  that,  because  of  its 
size  and  the  dangers  which  were,  in  those  days,  inevitably  associ- 
ated with  a  large  collection  of  sick  and  wounded,  it  is  probably 
the  severest  type  that  could  be  selected.  Whether  it  be  due  to  the 
frequent  removal  of  these  military  hospitals  or  to  the  fact  that 
their  reports  were  essentially  defective,  the  fact  remains  that 
scarcely  any  records  of  their  work  have  been  preserved. 

The  Moravians  at  Bethlehem,  accustomed  to  a  community  sys- 
tem, had  spacious  buildings  suitable  for  hospital  purposes  and 
nowhere  else  could  the  sick  and  helpless  have  received  more  ten- 
der consideration.  The  building  mostly  used  was  the  "Single 
Brethren's  House,'"  which  was  "eighty-three  by  fifty  feet,*'  says 
a  recent  writer  (i);  "in  height  three  stories,  and  above,  a  broken 
roof,  surmounted  by  a  belvedere  forty  feet  long — a  fine  specimen 
of  the  style  of  building  to  which  the  Moravians  of  the  last  cen- 
tury were  partial.  The  interior  was  arranged  so  as  to  separate  the 
youths  from  the  single  men,  on  the  first  floor,  four  rooms  being 
assigned  to  each.  On  the  second  floor  were  the  refectories  and 
extra  rooms.  In  the  summer  of  1762  an  east  wing,  and  in  1769  a 
west  wing  were  added,  in  which  some  work-shops  for  the  trades 
conducted  by  the  inmates  were  fitted  up.-'  A  part  of  this  building 
and  some  others  were  what  awaited  Drs.  Shippen  and  Warren 
on  the  3rd  of  December,  1776.  The  Kev.  John  Ettwein,  who  had 
made  the  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the  sick,  became  the 
hospital  chaplain,  and  it  is  in  his  journal  that  we  find  the  fullest 
information  concerning  them.  The  deaths  during  December 
amounted  to  sixty -two,  many  of  these  being  doubtless  due  to  ex- 
posure and  fatigue  on  the  trip  overland.  Many  of  the  criticisms 
of  these  hospitals  were  unnecessarily  seVere.    At  a  time  when  the 

(h)  The  terra  "general  hospital."  as  used  in  the  Re\olution  generally,  means 
the  main  one  of  Washington's  army,  although  technically  it  included  every  other 
hospital  in  the  service  as  a  division  of  it. 

fi)    John  W.  Jordan,  in  the  Pennsylvania  Magazine.  1896. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  - ; 

soldiers  in  tin*  field  were  exposed  to  the  greatest  hardships  it 
was  Hoi  to  be  expected  thai  their  condition  could  !»<•  improved 
by  wounds  <>r  illness,  or  that  the  bed  of  a  hospital  could  be  one 
of  luxury.  Dr.  Shippen  reported  on  the  17th  of  December  in  a 
letter  to  Colonel  Lee  thai  all  the  sick  had  been  removed  to  Beth- 
lehem, Easton  and  Ailentown.  He  suffered  the  Loss  of  an  infanl 
son  during  the  month,  and  on  <  'lirist  mas  day  was  suddenly  ordered 
to  the  front,  where  Washington's  army  was  about  t<>  move  on 
Trenton.  By  the  close  of  March,  one  hundred  and  ten  had  died, 
and  in  obedience  to  orders  received  on  the  27th,  the  thirty  remain- 
ing convalescents  started  for  the  army.  Wha1  few  were  unfit  to 
be  moved,  remained,  so  that  the  last  did  not  leave  until  duly  7th. 

As  has  been  seen,  there  had  been  sick  soldiers  at  Philadelphia, 
brought  there  by  Dr.  Bond,  Jr.,  as  early  as  December  6th  previous, 
and  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  the  "Bettering  House,"  and  other 
houses  had  been  used  for  their  accommodation.  The  number  of  sick 
was  continually  changing  on  account  of  convalescence  or  death, 
so  that  when  Dr.  Shippen  removed  the  general  hospital  to  Phila- 
delphia on  March  27,  1777,  provision  was  already  largely  made 
for  them.  As  early  as  September  5,  177G,  the  Council  of 
Safety  had  applied  to  President  Wharton  of  the  Almshouse 
Hospital  at  Eleventh  and  Spruce  streets,  for  quarters  for 
some  of  the  Continental  army's  sick  who  were  suffering  from 
dysentery.  As  they  were  not  granted,  Colonel  Francis  Gurney  was 
ordered  to  take  military  possession  of  the  hospital  on  October  23rd. 
The  sick  were  put  in  the  southeast  wing,  and  the  building  was  held 
until  the  capture  of  the  city.  The  records  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital mention  no  use  of  that  institution,  although  some  individual 
cases  were  there  treated,  until  the  arrival  of  the  sick  of  Dr.  Thomas 
Bond's  (Jr.)  transports  in  December  (177G),  about  two  months  later. 

On  the  8th  of  January  (1777)  following,  a  number  of  sick  sol- 
diers and  sailors  and  Hessian  prisoners  were  received,  and  many 
mure  from  that  time  on  until  the  British  occupation.  When  Dr. 
Shippen  arrived,  not  only  the  Spruce  and  Pine  streel  institutions 
were  full  of  sick,  but  other  houses  also,  among  them  being  Carpen- 


88  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ter's  mansion  on  Chestnut  street,  between  Sixth  and  Seventh 
streets,  and  the  residence  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Market  and 
Sixth  streets,  recently  deserted  by  Mr.  Galloway,  the  Tory  lawyer. 
The  sick  had  to  be  classified  and  a  convalescent  hospital  was 
opened  at  Peel  Hall,  now  a  part  of  the  Girard  College  estate. 
Early  in  the  year,  smallpox  appeared  and  carried  off  large  num- 
bers. A  letter  of  John  Adams  in  July  states  that  (j)  there  had 
been  two  thousand  interments  in  the  Potter's  field,  now  Washing- 
ton Square.  "The  Potter's  field  of  Philadelphia,"  says  Dr.  James 
Tilton  (k),  "bears  melancholy  testimony  of  the  fatal  effects  of  cold 
weather  on  the  military  hospitals  in  the  fall  of  '76  and  the  suc- 
ceeding winter.  Instead  of  single  graves,  the  dead  were  buried 
in  square  pits,  in  which  the  coffins  were  placed  in  ranges,  cross 
and  pile,  until  near  full,  and  then  covered  over."  The  first  of  the 
two  darkest  years  of  the  Revolution  was  half  gone  and  supplies 
were  becoming  more  and  more  uncertain  as  the  enemy  pressed 
closer  upon  the  capital.  Tories  showed  signs  of  encouragement, 
while  patriots  grew  restive  under  what  they  conceived  to  be  the 
meager  results  of  Washington's  management.  The  criticism  of 
the  medical  department,  already  alluded  to,  grew  fiercer,  and 
Dr.  Morgan's  friends  seized  the  opportunity  to  repair  the  injus- 
tice that  had  been  inflicted  on  him.  Morgan  was  in  Boston, 
whence  during  August  he  had  written  an  elaborate  defense  of  his 
services.  This  was  published  and  laid  before  a  congressional 
committee  on  the  9th  of  the  month,  with  a  request  for  an  investi- 
gation, which  Congress  promptly  provided  for  on  September  18. 
A  result,  however,  was  not  reached  until  June  12th  of  the  next  year 
(1778),  by  which  time  the  current  experience  of  the  hospital  serv- 
ice convinced  them  that  medical  men  could  not  perform  impossi- 
bilities, and  they  "resolved  that  Congress  are  satisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  Dr.  John  Morgan  while  acting  as  director-general  and 

(j)    Scharf  and  Wescott. 

(k)  On  Military  Hospitals.  1813.  The  strictures  of  Dr.  Tilton,  who  became 
head  of  the  department  in  the  winter  of  1S12.  are  as  severe  as  anyone's,  but  Dr. 
Tilton,  successful  as  he  was  in  1812,  had  no  Revolution  to  deal  with,  and  besides 
had  a  fixed  government  behind  him  and  the  experience  of  the  Revolution  to 
guide  him. 


!\  PHILADELPHIA. 

physician-in-chief  of  the  general  hospitals  of  the  United  Sta 
and  thai  this  resolution  1»<-  published."  One  of  the  principal 
.lilies  of  the  managemenl  of  the  medical  department  was  in-. 
Bush,  who,  <>n  October  1st  ilTTTi,  wrote  to  a  member  of  Congi 
th  Baying:  -It  is  now  universally  said  thai  the  system  was  formed 
for  the  director-general  and  not  for  the  benefil  of  the  sick  and 
wounded.  Such  unlimited  powers  and  no  checks  would  have 
suited  an  angel."  In  another  letter  of  the  same  month  h<-  Bays: 
"There  are  nearly  as  many  officers  as  men  in  our  army.  Everj 
regiment  1ms  a  Burgeon  with  one  or  two  mates."  "We  shall  never 
do  well  till  you  adopt  the  system  made  use  of  in  the  British  hos- 
pitals. The  industry  and  humanity  of  the  physicians  and  Burgeons 
are  lost  for  the  want  of  it.  While  I  am  writing  these  few  lines 
there  are  several  brave  follows  expiring  within  fifty  yards  of  me 
from  being  confined  in  a  hospital  whose  air  has  been  rendered 
putrid  by  the  sick  and  wounded  being  crowded  together'*  inn.  The 
prominence  of  Rush,  both  in  medical  and  political  circles,  gave 
to  his  criticisms  unusual  weight.  The  system  of  crowding  the 
sick  into  large  general  hospitals  was  one  of  the  chief  points  criti- 
cised by  medical  men,  some  of  whom  were  seeking  to  make  a 
radical  change  in  the  whole  service,  as  others,  who  were  discon- 
tented with  Washington's  management,  were  endeavoring  to  ac- 
complish in  the  army. 

The  discontent  was  increased  by  Washington's  unsuccessful 
effort  to  resist  the  advance  of  the  enemy  at  Brandywine  and  by 
the  consequent  orders  to  evacuate  Philadelphia.  The  general  hos- 
pital was,  in  September,  again  removed  to  Bethlehem,  Easton, 
Northampton  and  other  inland  towns.  Director-General  Sbippen, 
whose  objections  to  the  removal  id"  the  hospital  had  been  overruled 
by  Washington,  wrote  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ettwein  to  again  prepare  t.. 
receive  the  sick  and  wounded.  "It  gives  me  pain,"  said  In-.  "t<» 
1m-  obliged  by  order  of  Congress,  to  send   my  sick  and  wounded 

(li    Letter  to  John  Adams.    Atlantic  Monthly  of  May,  1883, 
(m)    Letter  wrritteu  from  Reading  after  the  hospitals  bad  been  again  distrib- 
uted to  inland   towns.  , 


90  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

to  your  peaceful  village,  but  so  it  is.  Your  large  buildings  must 
be  appropriated  to  their  use.  We  will  want  room  for  two  thou- 
sand at  Bethlehem,  Easton,  Northampton,  etc.,  and  you  may  ex- 
pect them  Saturday  or  Sunday These  are  dreadful 

times,  consequences  of  unnatural  wars.  I  am  truly  concerned  for 
your  Society  and  wish  sincerely  this  stroke  could  be  averted,  but 
'tis  impossible."  This  was  received  on  Tuesday,  September  19th. 
On  Sunday  evening  the  first  of  the  sick  and  wounded  began  to 
arrive,  and  by  the  22nd  of  October,  above  four  hundred  and  fifty 
were  at  Bethlehem  alone.  One  hundred  more,  sent  by  Kush,  ar- 
rived a  week  later,  whereupon  Dr.  Shippen  urged  Congress  to 
make  greater  provision  of  supplies,  as  many  of  the  men  were  un- 
able to  return  to  the  arnry  simply  for  want  of  clothes.  In  Decem- 
ber, another  detachment  from  New  Jersey  arrived  in  the. sleet  and 
rain,  and  now  there  were  above  seven  hundred  crowded  into  the 
"Single  Brethren's  House."  The  consequence  of  this  overcrowd- 
ing was  a  "putrid  fever"  so  fatal  that,  by  the  end  of  the  month,  the 
number  of  deaths,  since  the  removal,  amounted  to  over  three  hun- 
dred. This  fearful  mortality  was  due,  said  the  director-general, 
to  "the  want  of  clothing  and  covering  necessary  to  keep  the  sol- 
diers clean  and  warm,  articles  at  that  time  not  procurable  in  the 
country;  partly  from  an  army  being  composed  of  raw  men,  unused 
to  camp  life  and  undisciplined,  exposed  to  great  hardships,  and 
from  the  sick  and  wounded  being  removed  great  distances  in  open 
wagons."  "Owing  to  the  crowded  wards,"  said  Dr.  William  Smith, 
one  of  the  hospital  surgeons,  "and  the  want  of  almost  every  neces- 
sar}\  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  an  increase  of  the  infection, 
and  the  suffering  of  the  sick  could  not  be  attributed  to  negli- 
gence or  inattention  of  surgeons  and  physicians."  Even  such 
household  utensils  as  brooms  were  only  to  be  obtained  by  levying 
on  the  homes  of  the  village.  One  surgeon  states  that,  in  his  three 
months'  attendance  there,  between  eight  and  nine  hundred  were 
admitted.  Late  in  December,  it  was  announced  that  the  hospitals 
were  again  to  be  removed  to  the  west  of  the  Schuylkill,  but  this  was 
not  accomplished  until  April  12th.     On  the  26th,  the  superintend- 


l\   PHILADELPHIA.  :»J 

eut  of  removal  reported  to  Washington,  who  had,  on  the  ftrsl  of  the 
year,  been  given  complete  direction  of  the  hospitals,  that  from 
January  1st  to  April  12th,  "eighty-one  soldiers  died;  twenty-five 

deserted;  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  were  discharged  and  s.ni 
to  the  army;  eleven  were  at  the  shoe  factory  (in  Allentown),  two 
attending  on  sick  and  wounded  officers,  and  all  the  rest  removed 
from  the  hospital"  in).  It  is  estimated  that  "upward  of  five  hun- 
dred" deaths  occurred  at  Bethlehem  alone  and  the  death  rate  al 
Beading,  Lititz,  Ephrata,  and  other  places  was  in  proportion.  "It 
would  be  shocking  to  humanity/'  wrote  Dr.  James  Tilton,  the  head 
of  the  medical  department  in  the  war  of  1812,  "to  relate  the  his- 
tory of  our  general  hospital  in  the  years  1777  and  1778,  when  it 
swallowed  up  at  least  one-half  of  our  army,  owing  to  a  fatal  tend- 
ency in  the  system  to  throw  all  the  sick  of  the  army  into  the  gen- 
eral hospital,  whence  crowds,  infection,  and  consequent  mortality, 
too  affecting  to  mention." 

Meanwhile,  on  the  2(>th  of  September,  1777,  the  second  day 
after  the  first  detachment  of  the  sick  had  reached  Bethlehem,  the 
British  had  entered  Philadelphia.  General  ITowe  at  once  took 
possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  his  sick,  and  held  it 
until  the  17th  of  the  following  June.  In  November,  he  also  took 
possession  of  the  Almshouse  Hospital,  ejecting  the  paupers  and 
replacing  them  with  the  sick  and  wounded.  Philadelphia  had  her 
full  share  of  sick  during  the  rest  of  the  Avar,  but  there  was  no 
such  wholesale  concentration  as  in  the  days  when  the  British  were 
closing  in  about  her  environs.  The  records  of  the  Revolution  iu 
all  departments  are  very  meager,  and  those  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment for  1778  and  on  to  the  end  of  the  struggle  are  no  exception 
to  the  rule.  Dr.  Bush  gave  up  his  position  as  physician-general 
of  the  middle  department  early  in  1778  and  made  such  an  attack 
on  its  management  that  Congress  decreed  certain  reforms,  among 
them  one  providing  that  the  deputy-directors  of  each  department 

(n)  Mr.  John  W.  Jordan,  in  his  article,  previously  referred  to.  states  that 
this  is  the  only  report  to  be  found,  from  this  hospital,  in  the  various  departments 
at  Washington.  D.  C. 


D2  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

should  give  their  whole  attention  to  purveying.  Dr.  Rush  was 
joined  by  Dr.  Morgan  in  an  attack  that  had  for  its  avowed  purpose 
the  bringing  of  the  director-general  to  trial  for  maladministration. 
Congress,  as  already  stated,  had  begun  the  investigation  of  Dr. 
Morgan  in  September,  1778,  and  acquitted  him  on  June  12,  1779. 
Theri  a  trial  of  Dr.  Shippen  was  inaugurated,  but  the  court  and 
Congress  exonerated  him  also.  In  1780,  Dr.  Rush,  who,  four  years 
previously,  had  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  became 
a  member  of  the  convention  for  the  adoption  of  a  federal  constitu- 
tion, and  the  same  year  witnessed  the  reorganization  of  the  medi- 
cal department  upon  a  simpler  plan,  Dr.  Shippen  being  retained  at 
its  head.  In  June,  1871,  however,  being  anxious  to  resume  his 
work  in  the  medical  school,  he  resigned  his  post,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Dr.  John  Cochran,  and  Philadelphia's  control  of  the  medical 
department  of  the  army  was  at  an  end. 

It  is  not  possible  to  make  a  complete  list  of  Philadelphia 
physicians  who  served  in  the  Revolution  or  to  define  the  exact 
nature  of  their  services.  An  approximate  one  may  be  made  by 
comparing  the  first  directory  of  physicians  extant,  issued  two  years 
after  the  war,  with  the  government  lists,  as  recorded  by  Dr.  J.  M. 
Toner.  Dr.  Barnabas  Binney  was  a  hospital  surgeon;  Dr.  Thomas 
Bond,  Sr.,  served  as  examining  surgeon,  while  his  son,  Dr.  Thomas 
Bond,  Jr.,  beginning  as  surgeon's  mate,  rose  to  the  office  of  assist- 
ant director-general  of  the  middle  department;  Dr.  Thomas  Cad- 
ivalader,  who  died  in  the  midst  of  the  war,  was  a  surgeon;  Dr. 
Gerardus  Clarkson  attended  the  sick  under  the  direction  of  the 
Council  of  Safety;  Dr.  John  Colhoun  was  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Safety;  Dr.  William  Currie  was  a  surgeon  and  "furnished  medi- 
cines;" Dr.  Benjamin  Duffleld  attended  the  pest  house;  Dr.  Samuel 
Duffield  became  a  surgeon  in  the  navy;  Dr.  George  Glentworth 
was  a  surgeon;  Dr.  James  Dunlap  was  a  surgeon  in  the  navy;  Dr. 
Nathan  Dorsey,  who  was  in  the  city  in  1783,  was  surgeon's  mate 
on  the  ship  Defense;  Dr.  Wilson,  a  partner  of  Dr.  Bond  in  1873, 
also  served;  Dr.  Robert  Harris  was  surgeon's  mate;  Dr.  James 
Hutchinson  served  in  the  navy  hospital;  Dr.  Michael  Jennings  was 


l.\   PHILADELPHIA. 

a  surgeon;  Dr.  David  Jackson  was  a  Burgeon;  Dr.  John  Jones,  Bur- 
geon and  examiner;  Dr.  Adam   Kulm  beci a  director-general 

of  hospitals;  Dr.  Samuel  Preston  .Moon-  was  provincial  treasurer; 
Dr.  John  Morgan;  l>r.  Jonathan  Aforris  was  one  of  the  Council 
of  Safctv;  Dr.  Otto  was  director  of  the  hospital  a1  Valley  Porge; 
Dr.  Peter  Peres  w;is  ;i  surgeon;  l>r.  Thomas  Parke  "attended  sol- 
diers;" Dr.  Bittenhouse,  Buperintendenl  of  construction  work,  was 
probably  not  a  practitioner;  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush;  Dr.  Shippen,  8r.; 
Dr.  William  Smith,  Si-.,  "surgeon-general  of  hospital  at  Philadel- 
phia," and  William  Smith,  Jr.,  druggisl  of  the  Continental  army; 
Dr.  Joseph  Redman,  Jr.,  a  Burgeon;  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  "assisted 
wounded  soldiers,"  and  Dr.  B.  Van  Leer  was  a  member  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Safety.  The  list  is  necessarily  only  suggestive  as  to  the  du- 
ties performed  by  the  individuals  mentioned.  The  medical  leaders 
of  Philadelphia  in  the  Bevolution  were  too  immediately  concerned 
in  the  revolutionary  struggle  to  find  time  to  make  scientific  obser- 
vations on  the  diseases  of  the  war.  Scarcely  any  records  of  their 
work  have  been  preserved.  About  four  years  after  the  surrender 
at  Yorktown,  however,  on  July  22,  1785,  Dr.  Rush  jotted  down 
a  few  observations  (o)  that  are  of  interest :  "The  principal  diseases," 
he  writes,  "are  putrid  fevers.  Men,  who  came  into  the  hospitals 
with  pleurisies,  rheumatisms,  etc.,  soon  lost  the  types  of  their  orig- 
inal diseases,  and  suffered  or  died  with  the  putrid  fever.  This 
putrid  fever  was  often  artificial,  produced  by  the  want  of  sufficient 
room  and  cleanliness.  It  always  prevailed  most,  and  with  the 
worst  symptoms,  in  winter.  A  free  air,  which  could  only  be  ob- 
tained in  summer,  always  prevented  or  checked  it.  Soldiers  bil- 
leted in  private  houses  escaped  it,  and  generally  recovered  soonest 
from  all  their  diseases.  Convalescents  and  drunken  soldiers  were 
most  exposed  to  putrid  fevers.  The  remedies  that  appeared  to 
do  most  service  in  this  disease,  were  tartar  emetic  in  the  begin- 
ning, gentle  doses  of  laxative  salts,  bark,  wine,  (two  or  three  bot- 

(o)  They  were  written  for  a  member  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
of  Manchester,  England,  and  were  reprinted  in  the  London  Medical  Journal  of 
the   following  year. 


94  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ties  a  day  in  many  cases),  and  sal  volatile.  In  all  these  cases  where 
the  contagion  was  received,  cold  seldom  failed  to  render  it  active. 
Whenever  a  hospital  was  removed  in  winter,  one-half  of  the  pa- 
tients generally  sickened  on  the  way,  or  soon  after  their  arrival, 
at  the  place  to  which  they  were  sent.  The  army,  when  it  lay  in 
tents,  was  always  more  sickly  than  when  it  lay  in  the  open  air; 
it  was  always  more  healthy,  when  kept  in  motion,  than  when  it 
lay  in  an  encampment.  Militia  officers,  and  soldiers,  who  enjoyed 
health  during  a  campaign,  were  often  seized  with  fevers  upon 
their  return  to  the  Vita  Mollis,  at  their  respective  homes.  There 
was  one  instance  of  a  militia  captain,  who  was  seized  with  con- 
vulsions, the  first  night  he  lay  on  a  feather  bed,  after  lying  sev- 
eral months  on  a  mattress  and  on  the  ground.  The  fever  was  pro- 
duced by  the  sudden  change  in  the  manner  of  sleeping,  living,  etc. 
It  was  prevented,  in  many  cases,  by  the  person  lying,  for  a  few 
nights  after  his  return  to  his  family,  on  a  blanket  before  the  fire. 
I  met  with  several  instances  of  bubos,  and  ulcers  in  the  throat,  as 
described  by  Dr.  Don  Monro;  they  were  mistaken  by  some  of  the 
junior  surgeons  for  venereal  sores,  but  they  yielded  to  the  common 
remedies  of  putrid  fevers.  Those  patients  in  putrid  fevers,  who 
had  large  ulcers,  and  even  mortifications,  on  their  backs  or  limbs, 
generally  recovered.  There  were  many  instances  of  patients  in 
putrid  fevers  who,  without  any  apparent  symptoms  of  dissolution, 
suddenly  fell  down  dead,  upon  being  moved;  this  was  more  espe- 
cially the  case,  when  they  arose  to  go  to  stool.  Those  officers  who 
wore  flannel  shirts,  or  waistcoats,  next  to  their  skins,  in  general, 
escaped  fevers,  and  diseases  of  all  kinds.  Lads  under  twenty  years 
of  age  were  subjected  to  the  greatest  number  of  camp  diseases. 
The  southern  troops  were  more  sickly  than  the  northern  or  eastern 
troops.  The  native  Americans  were  more  sickly  than  the  Euro- 
peans. Men  above  thirty  and  thirty-five  years  of  age  were  the 
hardiest  soldiers  in  the  army.  Perhaps  this  was  the  reason  why 
the  Europeans  were  more  healthy  than  the  native  Americans;  they 
were  more  advanced  in  life.  The  troops  from  Maryland,  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina  sickened  for  the  want  of  salt  provisions.  Their 


IX   PHILADELPHIA. 

strength  and  spirits  wore  only  to  be  restored  to  them  by  means 

of  salt  bacon.  I  on< ■<•  saw  a  private  ill  a  Virginia  regiment  throw 
away  his  ration  of  choice  fresh  beef,  and  give  seven  shillings  and 
sixpence  apiece  for  a  pound  of  salt  moat.  Most  of  the  suilVrings 
and  mortality  in  our  hospitals  wore  occasioned  not  so  much  by 
actual  want  or  scarcity  of  anything,  as  by  the  ignorance,  negli- 
gence, etc.,  in  providing  necessaries  for  them.  After  the  purvey- 
ing and  directing  departments  were  separated  (agreeably  to  the 
advice  of  Dr.  Monro),  in  the  year  1778,  very  few  of  the  American 
army  died  in  our  hospitals."  The  last  fact,  however  accurate  it 
may  be,  is  probably  to  be  explained  by  mere  coincidence.  The 
experience  of  '76  and  '77  surely  had  no  small  part  in  securing  bet  ter 
service,  and  other  general  causes  operated  to  the  same  result.  The 
work  of  the  director-general,  Dr.  Shippen,  like  that  of  any  other 
leader  in  a  terrible  conflict,  was  not  without  its  errors  and  weak- 
nesses, but  it  is  doubtful  whether  those  who,  while  free  from  his 
responsibilities,  advanced  other  theories  of  management,  were  able 
to  regard  it  from  an  unbiased  judicial  standpoint. 

In  one  sense,  a  war  always  closes  gradually,  and  long  before 
the  surrender  at  Yorktown  the  physicians  of  Philadelphia  had 
begun  to  resume  the  duties  of  peace.  The  medical  school  and  hos- 
pitals were  reopened,  but  not  without  the  difficulties  attendant 
upon  reorganization.  This  was  especially  true  of  the  College.  A 
new  generation  was  in  control.  Many  of  the  first  group  of  native 
American  physicians  were  incapacitated  or  had  died.  Undoubt- 
edly the  faculty  of  the  medical  school  was  by  far  the  most  dom- 
inant element  in  Philadelphia  medicine.  It  will  be  of  interest  to 
observe  who  were  the  active  practitioners,  and  where  they  were 
located,  two  years  after  the  war;  in  other  words,  to  "take  stock" 
of  the  medical  profession  of  that  period.  The  earliest  list  of  physi- 
cians which  has  been  preserved  is  one  made  "soon  after"  1783, 
ami  two  years  later.  L785,  the  first  directory  (p)  was  issued.     The 

(p)  Francis  White's  Philadelphia  Directory.  A  copy  of  this  is  in  iho  His- 
torical Society's  library.  John  McPherson  issued  one  the  same  year,  but  the 
society  has  found  no  copy  of  it.  Neither  of  these  lists  Is  more  than  approximately 
complete  and  only  Includes  those  who  were  well  known  in  active  practice.  Dr. 
Shippen,  Sr.,  for  Instance,  is  no:  mentioned. 


96  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

differences  between  the  two  are  but  slight,  so  accurate  results  may 
be  reached  by  their  combined  study.  The  physicians,  like  the  city 
itself,  were  located  chiefly  about  the  banks  of  the  Delaware :  Ben- 
jamin Rush,  M.  D.  (q),  of  the  firm  of  Rush  and  Hall  (r),  was  on 
Second  street,  between  Chestnut  and  Walnut;  William  Shippen, 
Jr.,  M.  D.,  was  not  far  away,  on  Second,  between  Walnut  and 
Spruce;  John  Morgan,  M.  D.,  was  near  by,  on  Second  street,  at  the 
corner  ,of  Spruce;  Dr.  Bond,  of  Bond  and  Wilson  (s),  was  also  on 
Second  street,  between  Market  and  Arch  streets;  John  Redman, 
M.  D.,  was  near  also  on  Second  street,  between  Market  and  Arch 
streets;  John  Jones,  M.  D.,  had  left  New  York,  and  was  around 
the  corner  on  Market  street,  between  Second  and  Third  streets; 
Adam  Kuhn,  M.  D.,  was  on  Second  street,  near  W^alnut;  Gerardus 
Clarkson,  M.  D.,  was  on  Pine  street,  just  above  Front  street,  and 
his  son,  William  Clarkson,  B.  M.,  was  around  the  corner  on  Front, 
between  Pine  and  Union  streets;  Samuel  Duffield,  B.  M.,  was  on 
Chestnut,  just  above  Second  street;  and  Benjamin  Duffield,  M.  D., 
was  on  Front  street,  between  South  and  Almond  streets;  Nathan 
Dorsey  was  on  Front  street,  between  Walnut  and  Spruce  streets; 
John  B.  Foulke,  B.  M.,  was  on  Front  street,  between  Market  and 
Arch  streets;  George  Glentworth,  M.  D.,  was  on  Arch  street,  be- 
tween Front  and  Second  streets;  John  Carson,  M.  D.,  was  on  Third 
street,  between  Chestnut  and  Walnut  streets;  Barnabas  Binney, 
who  had  settled  in  Philadelphia  during  1777,  was  on  Arch  street, 
between  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets;  Abraham  Chovet,  M.  D.,  the 
well-known  Tory,  was  in  the  same  neighborhood,  on  Race  street, 
between  Third  and  Fourth  streets;  William  Currie  was  on  Second 
street,  corner  of  Pine  street; Samuel  Griffitts  (t),  B.  M.,was  on  Union 
street,  above  Second;  John  Morris,  B.  M.,  was  on  Chestnut  street, 
below  Second;  William  Smith,  B.  M.,  was  on  Arch  street,  below 
Second ;  Thomas  Parke,  B.  M.,  was  on  Fourth  street,  between  Chest- 

(q)    The  degrees  are  given  in  White's  Directory,  1785.    This  is  the  better  list 
of  the  two,  and  more  accurate,  even  for  17S3  or  '84. 
(r)    Dr.  James  Hall. 

(s)    Probably  Thomas  Bond,  Jr.,  as  his  father  died  in  1784. 
(t)    "Samuel  K.  Griffith"  in  Watson's  list,  an  error. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

nut  and  Markel  si  reets;  Benjamin  Say,  physician  and  Burgeon,  was 
on  Second  street,  between  Arch  and  Race  streets;  James  Hutchin- 
son was  on  Second  stret,  between  Walnut  and  Spruce  streets,  uear 
Dr.  Shippen;  Drs.  Jackson  and  Smith  were  on  Second  Btreet,  be- 
tween Markel  and  Chestnul  streets;  Robert  Harris  was  on  Spruce 
street,  between  Second  and  Third;  Peter  Glentworth  was  on  Front 
street,  between  Market  and  Arch;  Joseph  Redman  was  on  Market 
street,  between  Fifth  and  Sixth;  dames  Dunlap  was  also  neaf  by 
on  Market  street,  between  the  same  streets;  Joseph  (loss  was  on 
Fourth  street,  near  Walnut,  although  he  had  been  on  Front  street ; 
Joseph  Phiffer,  a  German,  was  on  Second  street,  near  Vine,  and 
Peter  Peres,  a  Frenchman,  was  on  Second  street,  "near  the  Bar- 
packs,"  at  the  corner  of  Brown  street;  John  Kehlme  (u)  was  on 
Race  street,  near  Second;  Frederick  Rapp  was  on  Third  street,  near 
Vine;  Samuel  Shober  was  on  Front  street,  near  South;  Thomas 
Shaw  was  at  Front  and  Callowhill  streets;  Benjamin  Van  Leer 
was  on  Water  street,  near  Race;  George  Lyle  was  on  Front  street, 
"near  Pool's  Bridge;"  Michael  Jennings  was  on  Moravian  alley, 
near  Race  street;  Dr.  Farbley  was  on  Story  street,  near  Third;  and 
James  Batchelor  (v)  was  on  Water  street,  near  Catherine.  It  will 
be  seen  from  the  above  that  physicians  were  clustered  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Second  street,  and  that  none  were  west  of  Sixth;  also 
that  there  were  about  fifty  physicians  in  a  population  ranging 
within  a  thousand  or  so  of  forty  thousand  inhabitants.  It  will  be 
seen,  as  events  move  forward,  that  the  most  influential  among  them 
was  he,  who,  nearly  ten  years  previously,  had  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  had  subsequently  been  one  of 
the  framers  of  the  constitution  of  his  native  State.  Dr.  Benjamin 
Tiush  was  the  instigator  and  promoter  of  many  a  useful  project 
which,  but  for  his  influence  in  medical  and  political  circles,  would 
probably  have  been  postponed  or  abandoned. 

In  August,  ITS.".,  in  the  course  of  a  correspondence  with  Dr. 

(u)    "Keihmle,"  Dr.  Rush  spells  it. 

(v)    Nol   iu   white's  Directory.      Watson's  list   contains   it  and   also  a  Dam 
which  is  undoubtedly  :i  misprinl  of  Dr.  Kuhn's  name. 


98  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Samuel  Powel  Grimtts,  who  was  then  in  London,  he  had  suggested 
the  founding  in  Philadelphia  of  a  society  similar  to  the  College 
of  Physicians  in  London  This  young  man  was  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  to  attract  the  notice  of  thoughtful  men,  his  seniors. 
He  was  only  twenty-four  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  cor- 
respondence with  Hush.  Born  in  1759  in  Philadelphia,  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Friends,  his  liberal  education  was  acquired  in 
the  College  and  his  professional  in  the  Medical  School,  under  the 
preceptorship  of  Dr  Kulm.  Like  his  friend  Wistar,  he  had  charge 
of  the  wounded  in  the  late  war.  In  1781  he  went  to  Europe, 
studied  in  Paris  and  Montpelier  until  June,  1783,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  London.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year  he  went  to  Edin- 
burgh, but  returned  in  the  spring  of  1784  to  London,  and  in  the 
fall  was  at  home  in  Philadelphia.  During  the  following  year, 
1785,  a  visitor,  Dr  Henry  Moyes,  who  was  delivered  a  course  of 
lectures  in  Philadelphia  on  natural  philosophy,  suggested  to  Dr. 
Grimtts,  and  to  his  uncle,  Samuel  Powel,  the  project  of  a  free 
dispensary.  It  was  well  received,  and  after  consultation  with 
Drs.  Eush,  Hall  and  Morris,  a  meeting  of  managers  and  physicians 
was  held  on  February  10,  17S6,  with  the  object  of  obtaining  sub- 
scriptions for  the  charitable  enterprise.  Before  the  end  of  the 
month  the  necessary  funds  were  pledged;  temporary  quarters  were 
secured  in  Strawberry  alley,  and  on  April  12th,  the  Philadelphia 
Dispensary,  the  first  institution  of  its  kind  in  America,  was  for- 
mally instituted. 

The  original  staff  of  the  Dispensary  was  composed  of  Drs. 
Samuel  P.  Grimtts,  James  Hall  (w),  William  Clarkson  (x),  John 
Morris  (y),  John  Carson  (z),  and  Caspar  Wistar,  attending  physi- 

(w)  Dr.  Hall  died  in  1801.  He  was  Lazareito  i>hysician  and  is  buried  in  the 
grounds  of  the  Lazaretto. 

(x)  Dr.  Clarkson  was  born  in  1763,  was  educated  at  Princeton,  graduated 
Bachelor  of  Medicine  at  Philadelphia  in  1785,  but  in  1793  became  a  Presbyterian 
minister.    He  died  in  1812. 

(y)  Dr.  Morris,  1759-93,  graduated  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1783  at  Philadelphia 
and  was  one  of  the  two  medical  victims  of  yellow  fever  in  1793. 

(z)  Dr.  Carson,  1752-94,  was  also  short  lived.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Edin- 
burgh Medical  School,  was  surgeon  of  city  cavalry,  a  trustee  of  the  University, 
and  held  other  offices. 


IN    PHILADELPH1  \. 

dans,  w  i i h  Dps.  Jones,  Shippen,  Kuhn  and  Rush  as  consultants. 
The  Dispensary  was  afterward  moved  to  127  South  Fifth  Btreet 
It  was  the  object  of  Dr.  Griffitts'  unwearied  devotion,  as  proved  l»\ 
the  fact  that  he  visited  it  daily,  with  few  exceptions,  "for  more 
than  forty  years."  In  L789,  I >r.  Griffitts  became  professor  of  Ma- 
teria Medica  and  Pharmacy  in  the  medical  school.  He  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  at  the  time  of 
his  death  was  its  vice-president.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  and  of  various  humane  societies, 
while,  in  the  annals  of  the  various  epidemics  of  yellow  fever 
that  devastated  the  city,  his  name  is  one  of  the  brightest. 
He  was  the  chief  founder  of  the  Friend's  Asylum  for  the  Insane 
.at  Prankford.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty-seven  and  died  on  May 
L2,  1826. 

While  the  Dispensary  was  founding,  Dr.  Rush  saw  that  his 
long-meditated  project  of  founding  a  (ollege  of  Physicians  was 
pipe  for  execution.  At  this  time  there  were,  besides  Rush,  about 
sixteen  physicians  who  were  members  of  the  American  Philosoph- 
ical Society,  as  well  as  of  other  scientific  and  social  organizations. 
Rush  himself  was  also  a  member  of  the  society  founded  by  Mor- 
gan, and  was,  probably,  also  a  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Society  of  1773  (a).  The  new  organization  was  to  be  on  a  different 
basis  from  any  of  these  societies.  It  was  to  be  for  medicine  what 
the  Philosophical  Society  was  for  general  investigation  and  to  par- 
take largely  of  the  character  of  the  medical  "colleges"  (as  Euro- 
pean societies  of  a  certain  official  character  wen1  called)  of  Lon- 
don and  Edinburgh.     lie  corresponded  with  Dr.  Lettsom  of  Lon- 

(a)  The  Society  founded  by  Morgan  was  "The  Philadelphia  Medical  Society," 
which  Included  in  its  membership  l>rs.  John  Kearsley,  Jr.,  Gerardus  Olarkson, 
.lames  a.  Bayard,  Robert  Harris  and  George  Glentworth.  The  American  Med- 
ical Society  lasted  for  many  years,  and  then  ;i  new  Philadelphia  Modi. -at  Society 
was  organized  in  1789,  ami  incorporated  in  1792,  which  had  a  vigorous  career 
down  to  1846.  This  seemed  to  be  the  general  society,  while  the  College  <>r"  Physi- 
cians had  a  different  Character,  and  the  Academy  of  Medicine  and  its  SUCCCSS 
the  Medical  Lyceum,  both  small  and  temporary,  ceased  by  the  latter  being  merged 
into    the   general    society    in    1816.     Nearly    all    the    members    of    these    other    three 

societies  wer.-  also  members  of  the  general  society,  for  Rush,  Barton,  Physlck  and 
Chapman   were  among   its  presidents. 


100  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

don,  who  heartily  approved  of  the  undertaking,  and  suggested 
that  the  college  should  include  foreign  members.  "Set  your  men 
of  science,"  said  he  (b),  "upon  studying  your  own  country,  its  native 
and  improvable  productions.  Your  resources  would  iniiuence 
Europe,  your  reflections  would  instruct  her."  During  1786,  there 
were  many  conversations  on  the  subject,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Dr.  Eush  drafted  more  than  one  "constitution"  for  the  new  society. 
There  are,  however,  no  records  of  the  first  two  or  three  meetings, 
which  were  undoubtedly  held  late  in  that  year.  From  the  most 
careful  scrutiny  of  all  references  to  the  first  meeting  for  formal 
organization,  it  would  seem  that  this  occurred  on  the  first  Tuesday 
in  October,  although  there  may  have  been  preliminary  conferences 
in  September  (c). 

In  all  probability,  the  constitution  was  adopted  at  the  October 
meeting.  The  objects  of  the  new  organization  are  indicated  in  the 
opening  words  of  that  instrument:  "The  Physicians  of  Philadel- 
phia, influenced  by  a  conviction  of  many  advantages  that  have 
arisen  in  every  country  from  Literary  institutions,  have  associated 
themselves  under  the  name  and  title  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
of  Philadelphia.  The  objects  of  this  college  are,  to  advance  the 
Science  of  Medicine,  and  thereby  to  lessen  Human  Misery  by  in- 
vestigating the  diseases  and  remedies  which  are  peculiar  to  our 
country,  by  observing  the  effects  of  different  seasons,  climates,  and 
situations  upon  the  Human  Body,  by  recording  the  changes  that  are 
produced  in  diseases  by  the  progress  of  Agriculture,  Arts,  Popula- 
tion and  manners, by  searching  for  medicines  in  our  Woods,  Waters 
and  the  bowels  of  the  Earth,  by  enlarging  our  avenues  to  knowl- 
edge; from  the  discoveries  and  publications  of  foreign  countries, 
by  appointing  stated  times  for  Literary  intercourse  and  communi- 
cations, and  by  cultivating  order  and  uniformity  in  the  practice  of 
Physick."  It  provided  that  the  membership  should  consist  of 
twelve  senior  Fellows  and  an  indefinite  number  of  juniors,  all  to 
be  local  residents,  and  of  associate  members  elsewhere.     How 

(b)  1785. 

(c)  History  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  by  Dr.  W.  S.  W.  Paisehenberger,  18S6. 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  10] 

many  and  who  were  present  ;ii  thai  meeting  can  only  l»»-  con- 
ject  ured. 

When  ii  came  to  ;i  choice  for  president,  there  was  little  or  no 
hesitation.  All  eyes  naturally  turned  i<»  one  <>f  the  first  group  <»f 
native  American  physicians,  who  had  recently  retired  from  prac- 
ice,  ;ii  the  age  of  sixty-four.  This  was  Dr.  John  Redman,  a  com- 
panion <>f  Cadwalader,  who  had  died  seven  years  before,  and  <>\ 
Bond,  whose  death  was  bul  two  years  distant.  Dr.  Redman  was 
Learned  ami  dignified,  and  his  ideal  of  the  nature  of  tin-  physician's 
calling  was  a  noble  one.  This  is  manifest  from  the  following  toast 
which  he  once  proposed:  "The  dignity  and  success  of  the  healing 
art:  And  long  health,  competent  wealth,  and  exquisite  happiness 
to  the  industrious  practitioner,  who  makes  the  health  and  comfort 
and  happiness  of  his  fellow  mortals  one  of  the  chief  ends  ami  de- 
lights of  his  life,  and  acts  therein  from  motives  that  render  him 
superior  to  all  the  difficulties  lie  may  have  to  encounter  in  the 
pursuit  thereof."  Drs.  Bush  and  Morgan  were  old  students  of 
Redman  and  probably  were  active  in  promoting  his  election.  Dr. 
Redman  was  a  native  Philadelphian,  born  February  27,  11--,  and 
educated,  like  many  of  his  contemporaries,  at  Tennent's  Academy. 
He  passed  his  apprenticeship  under  Dr.  Kearsley,  practiced  for 
some  years  in  the  Bermudas,  and  finally  spent  a  year  or  more  in 
Edinburgh,  Paris,  Leyden  and  London,  graduating  at  Leyden  in 
174S.  He  joined  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  staff  in  1751  and  con- 
tinued a  member  of  it  for  nearly  thirty  years,  and  was  both  a  trus- 
tee of  the  College  of  Philadelphia  and  a  member  of  the  Philosoph- 
ical Society.  He  published  "A  Defense  of  Inoculation"  in  1759, 
and,  after  a  long  and  distinguished  career  as  a  practitioner,  he 
had  retired  only  two  years  before  he  was  called  to  the  first  presi- 
dency of  the  College  of  Physicians.  After  a  faithful  service  of 
more  than  eighteen  years  in  this  office,  feeble  health  obliged  him 
to  resign,  and  about  three  years  later,  1808,  he  died  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty-six  years. 

For  vice-president  they  chose  the  distinguished  author  of 
''Wounds  and  Fractures,"  who,  for  the  previous  six  years  had  been 


102  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

a  citizen  of  the  city  of  his  ancestors.  Dr.  John  Jones,  born  in  1729, 
on  Long  Island,  where  his  father,  Dr.  Evan  Jones,  had  removed, 
after  studying  under  his  father  and  Dr.  Cadwalader,  went  to  Europe 
and  continued  his  studies  in  Edinburgh,  London,  Paris,  and  the 
University  of  Eheiins,  from  which  latter  he  was  graduated  in  1757. 
Settling  in  New  York,  he  became  a  surgeon  in  the  Colonial  army 
during  the  French  war,  and  in  1768  was  made  Professor  of  Surgery 
in  King's  College.  His  work  on  surgery,  published  in  1775,  has 
already  been  referred  to.  It  was  intended  for  the  use  of  surgeons 
in  the  army  and  navy,  and  was  certainly  a  most  opportune  publica- 
tion. When  Jones  returned  to  Philadelphia,  in  1780,  lie  was  fifty- 
one  years  of  age  and  immediately  assumed  prominence  as  a  sur- 
geon of  great  dexterity.  He  was  the  physician  of  Washington, 
Franklin,  and  other  prominent  men,  and  was  a  man  of  the  high- 
est character  in  every  phase  of  life.  He  would  certainly  have 
succeeded  to  the  presidency  of  the  College,  as  Dr.  Eedman  wished, 
had  the  latter  been  permitted  to  resign.  He  died  in  1791,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-three,  Eedman  surviving  him  for  about  seventeen 
years.  "Few  persons,-'  says  an  account  of  him,  "possessed  more 
of  those  engaging  qualities  which  render  a  man  estimable,  both 
professionally  and  otherwise,  than  Dr.  Jones.  His  conversation 
was  most  pleasing.  His  language  flowed  in  an  easy,  spontaneous 
manner,  and  was  animated  by  a  vein  of  sprightly  but  always  un- 
offending wit,  which  delighted  while  it  secured  attention.  He 
was  a  belles-lettres  scholar;  was  observant,  and  possessed  a  good 
memory;  and  was  ever  a  most  agreeable,  entertaining  and  instruct- 
ive companion." 

The  first  treasurer  of  the  College  was  Dr.  Gerardus  Clarkson, 
who  has  already  been  noticed,  and  for  secretary  was  chosen  Dr. 
James  Hutchinson,  who  was  destined  to  be  the  most  distinguished 
medical  victim  of  the  3Tellow  fever  epidemic  of  1793.  The  censors 
were  very  property  composed  of  the  old  faculty  of  the  medical 
school,  Drs.  Shippen,  Morgan,  Eush  and  Kuhu.  The  first  meet- 
ings, it  is  said,  were  held  in  the  old  College  building  at  Fourth  and 
Arch  streets.     At  the  second  meetiug,  Dr.  Eedman  was  unable  to 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  103 

be  present,  and  ii  is  believed  thai  bis  inaugural  address,  which  bias 
been  preserved,  was  delivered  at  the  third  meeting,  in  December, 

1  Ts(>.  Of  this  supposed  fad  there  is  no  other  |»n><»f  than  that 
derived  from  the  internal  evidence  of  ih<-  address  itself,  and  from 
a  study  of  the  earliesl  minutes  of  the  College.  The  address  was 
filled  with  excellent  advice  to  the  Fellows,  souk-  of  whom,  said  he, 
"I  have  the  honor  to  call  my  professional  children,"  and  lie  felt 
it,  he  said,  both  his  "duty  and  inclination,  as  your  oldesl  member, 
and  especially  as  your  president,  and  as  yery  becoming  to  as  at 
tin*  commencemenl  of  this  our  Institution,  in  your  name  and  mi 
your  behalf,  to  acknowledge  the  Supreme  Being  to  be  our  Sov- 
ereign, Lord  and  Ruler."  For  sonic  reason,  the  constitution  was 
not  signed  until  the  first  Tuesday  in  Januarx  (2),  1TS7,  which  was 
probably  the  date  of  the  first  full  meeting,  and  has  always  been 
treated  as  the  real  birthday  of  the  College.  Those  who  signed  it 
did  so  in  the  following  order:  The  twelve  seniors,  Drs.  John  Mor- 
gan, John  Redman,  John  .Jones,  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  Adam  Kuhn, 
Benjamin  Rush,  Gerardus  Clarkson,  Samuel  Duffield,  Thomas 
Parke,  James  Hutchinson,  George  Glentworth  (d),  Abraham 
Ohovet  (e);  and  the  following  juniors:    Drs.  Andrew    Ross,  William 

(d)  Dr.  Glentworth  was  the  same  age  :is  Dr.  Morgan,  having  been  horn  In  I7:j">, 
in  Philadelphia.  After  bis  academic  education  be  was  apprenticed  to  a  Dr.  Peter 
Soumans,  of  whom  little  is  known,  except  that  he  ha<l  an  extensive  practice,  was 
a  member  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  and  died  In  lTTC  I>r.  Glentworth  was  a 
junior  surgeon  in  the  British  army  until  IT."..",  when  he  went  to  Europe.  After 
three  years' Ik-  graduated  at  Edinburgh,  and.  returning,  became  a  partner  of  his 
preceptor.  In  1777  he  became  a  regimental  surgeon,  and  later  a  senior  surgeon 
in  the  military  hospital.  He  died  in  1~U~.  a  faithful  and  able  physician,  and  a 
mild,   friendly,  intelligent    patriot. 

(e)  Dr.  Chovet,  horn  in  England  in  17<"4.  was  nearly  eighty-three  when  be 
signed  the  constitution.  He  was  educated  in  London,  is  believed  to  have  been  a 
lecturer  of  the  Barbers'  and  Surgeons'  company,  and  is  known  to  have  come  to 
Philadelphia  some  years  before  the  Revolution  from  the  West  Indies  because  of 
a  slave   insurrection.     lb     was    an    eminent    anatomist    and    had    an    excellent    wax 

collection  of  l Ids    made  by   himself,   which    he   used    in    public   lectures   a<   early 

as  177."..  and  which  is  new  in  the  \\  istar  and  Horner  Museum  of  the  University. 
He  was  a  Tory  and  experienced  some  annoyance  on  thai  account,  but  his  mirthful 
ami  fun  loving  temper  carried  him  pafely  through  what,  to  one  less  happily  con- 
stituted, might  have  been  serious  dangers.  Ilis  death  occurred  in  i7:»o.  al  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-six,  when  he  had  only  ceased  visiting  patients  but  a 
few    weeks. 


104  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

W.  Smith,  James  Hall.  William  Clarkson,  William  Currie,  Ben- 
jamin Say,  Samuel  P.  Griffitts,  John  Morris,  Xathan  Dorsey  (f), 
Benjamin  Duffield,  John  Carson,  John  Foulke,  Kobert  Harris,  John 
B.  B.  Bodgers  (f),  Caspar  Wistar,  Jr.  (f),  and  James  Cunning- 
ham if).  The  constitution  was  revised  in  Xoveniber  following 
(1787),  and  has  been  signed  by  every  Fellow  since  elected.  At  the 
next  meeting,  February  6,  1787,  Dr.  Bush  read  the  first  paper, 
"On  the  Means  of  Promoting  Medical  Knowledge."  This  may  be 
considered  as  the  medical  scientific  constitution  of  the  organiza- 
tion, in  which  its  policy  is  first  distinctly  formulated.  "I  feel 
peculiar  pleasure,"  said  he,  "in  reflecting,  that  the  late  revolution, 
which  has  given  such  a  spring  to  the  mind  in  objects  of  philosoph- 
ical and  moral  inquiry,  has  at  last  extended  itself  to  medicine,  and 
in  less  than  five  years  after  the  peace,  before  the  human  faculties 
had  contracted  to  their  former  dimensions,  a  college  of  physicians, 
formed  upon  principles  accommodated  to  the  present  state  of  so- 
ciety and  government  in  America,  has  been  established  in  the 
capital  of  the  United  States."  He  proceeds  to  show  its  value  as 
a  semi-official  "college,"  in  the  European  sense,  in  virtue  of  which 
it  can  commard  attention  from  the  public  and  government,  influ- 
ence legislation,  and  publish  a  Dispensatory  (which  "will  be  one  of 
the  first  objects  of  our  attention");  and  also  as  a  society  holding 
the  same  relations  to  medical  science  as  the  Philosophical  Society 
to  science  in  general.  He  announces  that  a  library,  the 
germ  of  the  present  superb  collection,  has  been  already  begun.  In 
fact,  the  purposes  of  the  College,  as  announced  by  Bush,  are  of  the 
noblest  character,  and  it  is  partly  owing  to  his  prestige  that  they 
have  ever  since  been  kept  in  view.  One  cannot  read  this  address 
without  imbibing  the  lofty  spirit  and  pure  scientific  temper  that 
stamped  themselves  upon  the  institutions  that  arose  with  the  fed- 
eral constitution.  At  the  very  next  meeting,  the  College  began  its 
practical  work  by  appointing  a  committee,  almost  prophetic  of  pes- 

(f)  These  names  were  probably  added  later,  for  their  election  in  full  did  not 
occur  until  April,  and  the  published  membership  of  February  did  not  include 
them,  and  did  include  a  John  Lynn,  whose  name  was  dropped  for  some  reason. 


in  Philadelphia.  ios 

tilence  to  <•< »n m •,  on  Meteorology  and  Epidemics,  a  body  that  re- 
ported regularly  for  ninety-five  years  (g).  A  pharmacopoeia  (h) 
was  proposed  the  oexl  year  for  use  of  the  College,  and  in  17°.* 
a  circular  letter  was  issued  t<>  the  profession  of  the  la  ml  f  o  secure  co- 
operation in  the  establishment  of  a  national  pharmacopoeia.  This 
year  witnessed  the  firsl  governmental  recognition  of  the  College, 
also,  and  its  incorporation.  IT'.mi  (i)  was  notable  for  a  eulogy  on 
Cullen  by  Dr.  Rush,  which  brought  the  institution  into  world-wide 
notice,  as  it  was  probably  the  best  extant  estimate  of  the 
character  ami  work  <>f  the  great  Edinburgh  leader.  The  influence 
the  College  new  began  to  have  in  the  medical  world  was  due  not 
only  to  the  fact  that  its  leaders  were  distinguished  medical  men, 
but  quit**  as  much,  if  not  more,  to  the  fact  that  they  were,  neces- 
sarily, observers  in  a  new  medical  field,  toward  which  the  eyes 
^f  the  world  had  been  turned  by  the  course  of  public  events. 

The  new  institution  was,  in  a  sense,  both  complementary  ami 
supplementary  to  the  medical  school,  which,  in  1791,  began  i*s 
career  as  the  medical  department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  which  undoubtedly  dominated  the  medical  thought  of  the  na- 
tion for  more  than  a  score  of  years  thereafter.  It  is  unnecessary, 
at  this  point,  to  go  into  the  details  by  which  the  change  from 
province  to  state,  during  the  decade  succeeding  the  war,  led  to  the 
erection  of  two  colleges  and  two  medical  schools  out  of  the  same 
material  that  had  composed  one,  or  to  explain  how,  on  September 
30,  1791,  they  coalesced  as  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  In 
an  introductory  lecture,  Dr.  Rush  congratulated  his  hearers  "upon 
the  union  of  the  two  Medical  Schools  of  Philadelphia  under  a 
charter  founded  upon  the  most  Liberal  concessions  by  the  gentle- 

(g)  Composed  :it  that  time  of  Drs.  ('arson.  Griffitts,  Morris,  Hall,  and  William 
Clarkson. 

iln  The  committee  included  I>rs.  Redman,  Jones,  Kuhn,  Shippen.  Rush,  Grif- 
fitts, Wistar  and  Hutchinson.  Dr.  Morgan  proposed  on,-  for  the  province  in  May, 
1787,  the  first,  and  Griffitts  had  been  especially  interested  in  this  subjecl  in  i 
private  way.  The  firsl  efforl  of  tins  kind  was  made  for  tin-  army  by  Dr.  William 
Brown  at  Valley  Forge. 

(i)    1793  witnessed  the  election  of  the  firsl  associate  member  in  the  ;■    a 
of  Dr.  James  Tilton,  of  Dover,  one  of  the  firsl  graduates  of  the  medical  school. 


106  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

men  who  projected  it,  and  upon  the  purest  principles  of  patriotism 
in  the  Legislature  of  our  State.  By  means  of  this  event,  the  an- 
cient harmony  of  the  different  professors  of  medicine  will  be  re- 
stored, and  their  united  efforts  will  be  devoted,  with  accumulative 
force,  toward  the  advancement  of  our  science."  This  was  a 
prophecy  whose  fulfillment  was  largely  due  to  the  brilliant  talents 
and  indefatigable  zeal  of  him  who  uttered  it.  The  new  faculty 
of  1791-2  that  inaugurated  the  new  era  were:  For  Anatomy,  Sur- 
gery and  Midwifery,  William  Shippen,  and  Caspar  Wistar  as  ad- 
junct; for  Theory  and.  Practice  of  Medicine,  Adam  Kuhn;  for  In- 
stitutes of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine,  Benjamin  Rush;  for 
Chemistry,  James  Hutchinson;  for  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy, 
Samuel  P.  Griffitts,  and  for  Botany  and  Natural  History,  Benjamin 
Smith  Barton.  Some  of  these  chairs  were  soon  vacated,  but,  for 
the  next  twenty  years,  the  Professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Clinical 
Medicine  remained  at  his  post,  inculcating  his  doctrines,  and  im- 
pressing his  methods  upon  the  minds  of  hundreds  of  students. 

Events  were  soon  to  try  him,  as  few  men  have  been  tried,  but 
amid  the  direst  misfortunes,  his  constancy  remained  unbroken.. 
There  began  in  that  calamitous  year  of  1793  events  that  were  des- 
tined, ere  long,  to  wrest  from  Philadelphia  the  proud  position  of 
metropolis,  although  without  diminishing,  in  the  slightest  degree, 
her  medical  prestige.  The  city,  by  the  end  of  the  century,  included 
a  population  of ,  about  70,000,  and  undoubtedly  contained  about 
50,000  when  the  yellow  fever  appeared.  Instead  of  growing  west- 
ward, it  had  spread  up  and  down  the  Delaware  frontage,  so  that 
even  so  late  as  1798,  says  a  current  account  (j),  "the  buildings  do- 
not  at  present  extend  over  half  the  ground  designated  in  the  orig- 
inal plan;  as  the  inhabitants,  from  obvious  commercial  advantages, 
have  preferred  the  Delaware  front  rather  than  the  Schuylkill;, 
hence,  at  present,  the  houses  extend  nearly  three  miles  north  and 
south  along  the  Delaware,  and  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  due 

(j)  History  of  the  Pestilence  Commonly  Called  Yellow  Fever,  etc.  Conclie 
and  Folwell,  1798.  This  account  makes  a  very  conservative  estimate  of  popula- 
tion, at  55,000  to  00,000  in  1798. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  KM 

w.si  toward  the  Schuylkill.  They  are  chiefly  built  with  bricks, 
from  two  to  five  stories  high;  I  In*  streets  are  regular,  wide  and  airy, 
except  Water  street,  which  occupies  the  space  between  tin-  bank 
upon  which  Front  street  is  built,  and  the  river,  which  was  origi- 
aally  designed  for  stores.  It  is  the  narrowest,  yel  one  of  the  mosi 
populous  in  the  city,''  and  was  considered  "a  disagreeable  street." 
"Whole  Dork  street  is  now  built,"  the  account  runs,  "in  former 
years  was  a  swamp  or  canal,  with  a  small  si  roam  of  water  running 
through  it,  extending  from  the  river  to  Third  street,  which  became 
a  general  nuisance,  and  a  common  reservoir  for  the  tilth  of  a  Large 
part  of  the  city."  This  was  then  covered  by  an  arched  street  run- 
ning from  beyond  Sixth  street  in  the  Potter's  field  down  to  tin- 
river,  but  its  apertures  along  the  way  were  still  offensive.  Pegg's 
run  in  Spring  Garden  was  another  marshy  nuisance,  and  the  cen- 
tral cemeteries  behind  were  regarded  as  a  source  of  disease.  Ref- 
ugees and  immigrants  had  greatly  increased  the  population,  while 
the  number  of  physicians,  in  1793,  was  about  fifty-six  (k). 

Philadelphia  had  not  been  visited  by  yellow  fever  for  re 

than  thirty  years,  and  this  long  period  of  immunity  had  given  rise 
to  a  false  sense  of  security  Avith  regard  to  its  recurrence.  There 
had  been  a  fearful  epidemic  in  1099,  when,  according  to  a  letter 
of  Isaac  Norris,  there  were  two  hundred  and  twenty  deaths  out 
of  a  population  that  could  scarcely  have  exceeded  2,00(>.  Accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Rush:  "The  yellow  fever,  which  I  take  to  be  exactly 
the  same  distemper  as  the  plague  of  Athens,  described  by  Thucy- 
dides,  has  been  five  different  times  in  this  city."  Dr.  Bond  re- 
marked in  the  course  of  a  lecture  in  1  7<><i:  "  Twas  in  the  year  forty- 
one,  I  first  saw  the  horrid  disease,  which  was  then  imported  by 
a  number  of  convicts  from  the  Dublin  gaol.  The  second  time  it 
prevailed,  it  was  indigenous  from  evident  causes,  ami  was  prin- 
cipally Confined  to  one  square  of  the  city.  The  third  time,  it  was 
generated  on  board  of  crowded  ships  in  the  Tort,  which  brought 
in  their  passengers  in  health,  but  soon  after  became  very  sickly. 

(k)    There  were  fifty-six  mentioned  iii  the  directory  of  IT'.'!,  together  with  nine 
barber-surgeons,  cuppers  and  bleeders. 


108  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

I  here  saw  the  appearance  of  contagion  like  a  dim  spark,  which 
gradually  increased  to  a  blaze,  and  soon  after  burst  out  into  a  ter- 
rible flame,  carrying  devastation  with  it,  and,  after  continuing  two 
months,  was  extinguished  by  the  profuse  sweats  of  Tertian  fevers." 
The  years  he  refers  to  are  1741,  '47  and  "62,  the  two  latter  be- 
ing the  only  years  mentioned  by  Dr.  Bush  after  '41.  Bond's  de- 
scription is  undoubtedly  based  upon  the  epidemic  of  1762,  the  last, 
which  Dr.  Eedman  was  now  able  to  recall  for  the  benefit  of  the 
profession  (1).  He  said  he  believed  that  Dr.  Bond  had  cases  in 
1762  as  early  as  the  second  week  of  August,  that  the  epidemic 
reached  its  height  the  week  after  the  middle  of  September,  and 
ceased  early  in  November.  It  began  in  some  tenements  near  the 
corner  of  Front  and  Pine  streets,  and  was  believed  to  have  had  its 
origin  in  a  case  brought  from  Havana.  It  spread  from  this  point 
southwardly  three  or  four  squares  and  westwardly  from  the  river 
to  about  Third  or  Fourth  streets.  At  the  height  of  the  epidemic 
Dr.  Redman  had  treated  daily  from  eighteen  to  twenty  cases  of  the 
disease.  The  city  was  now  nearly  four  times  as  large  as  in  1762, 
and  as  the  metropolis  and  the  capital  of  the  United  States,  was  in  a 
condition  of  great  commercial  prosperity.  "Not  to  enter  into  a 
minute  detail,"  writes  Mathew  Carey  (m),  "extravagance,  in  various 
forms,  Avas  gradually  eradicating  the  plain  and  wholesome  habits 
of  the  city."  In  July,  1793,  the  Cape  Frangois  refugees  arrived.  On 
August  5th,  (n),  Dr.  Rush  visited  the  child  of  Dr.  Hodge,  which  died 
two  days  later.  This  is  the  earliest  case  reported  by  him,  although 
lie  admits  that  during  the  child's  illness  he  was  mistaken  as  to  its 
nature.  On  the  18th,  Dr.  Say  called  Bush  in  consultation  in  the 
case  of  Peter  Ashton,  who  died  the  same  evening.  On  the  next 
day,  Drs.  Foulke  and  Hodge  called  him  in  to  consult  in  the  case 

(1)    His  inauuscript  is  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians. 

(m)  A  short  account  of  the  "Malignant  Fever,"  etc.,  by  Mathew  Cary.  one  of 
the  public  committee,  January.  179-1. 

(n)  Dr.  Isaac  Cathrall  had  a  case  as  early  as  the  3rd,  though  it  -was  not 
known  to  be  yellow  fever.  Physicians  "who  had  entered  into  practice  since 
17G2,"  says  Dr.  Currie,  "were  entirely  unacquainted  with  it  at  the  time  of  its 
occurrence  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  year  1793." 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  109 

of  the  wife  of  Peter  Le  Siaigre  in  Water  street,  between  Unci-  and 
Arch, and, on  coming  out, the  I  bree  physicians  noticed,  on  the  wharf, 
a  heap  of  putrid  coffee,  which  bad  been  discharged  from  tin-  dam- 
aged cargo  of  a  vessel.     This  putrid  coffee  was  I  be  nucleus  of  one  of 
the  fiercest  medical  controversies  thai  bave  ever  arisen  in  Phila- 
delphia.    1  >i-s.  Rush  and  Foulke  regarded  ii  as  the  origin  of  the 
fever,  and  tliis  opinion  was  defended  by  Rush  with  the  greatest 
ability  and  the  utmost  pertinacity.    He  now  declared  liis  belief  I  hat 
the  above-mentioned  cases  and  many  others  belonged  to  a  malig- 
nant type  of  bilious  remitting  yellow  lever.     The  Governor  now 
asked  the  Secretary  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Dr.  Hutchinson, 
who  was  also  consulting  port-physician,  to  investigate  the  epi- 
demic.   On  the  22nd,  the  Mayor  gave  orders   for  cleaning   the 
sheets.    On  the  25th,  the  College  of  Physicians  met  and  proposed 
an  address  to  the  public,  and  Dr.  Rush  urged  the  people  to  clean  the 
wharf.     Dr.  Hutchinson  reported,  on  the  27th,  that  the  epidemic 
bad  gained  considerable  headway  and  was  chiefly  raging  in  Water 
street,  near  Race  and  Arch,  and  also  at  Kensington,  and  was  fast 
spreading.    He  also  raised  the  question  whether  ii  had  not  origi- 
nated in  Kensington.     The  city  register  showed  that  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  had  already  died  from  the  disease.     The  public  had 
already  taken  alarm.     "The  removal   from   Philadelphia,"  writes 
Carey,  "began  about  the  25th,  or  26th  of  this  month  (August);  and 
so  great  was  the  general  terror,  that  for  some  weeks,  carts,  wagons, 
coaches  and  chairs  were  almost  constantly  transporting  families 
and  furniture  to  the  country  in  every  direction.     Many  people  shut 
up  their  homes  wholly;  others  left  servants  to  take  care  of  them. 
Business  then  became  extremely  dull.     Mechanics  and  artists  were 
unemployed  and  the  streets  wore  the  appearance  of  gloom  and 
melancholy."     The  increase  in  the  number  of  cases  was  so  ureal 
that  the  guardians  of  the  poor  were  obliged  to  secure  additional 
quarters  for  the  sick.     With  this  object,  they  rented  a  circus  tenl 
that  had  been  lately  in  use,  and  this  tent  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Municipal  Hospital.     Nurses  could  not  be  secured;  the  patients 
were  left  to  die  alone  or  possibly  to  recover,  and  the  people  threat- 


110  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ened  to  burn  the  tent.  It  was  then  decided  to  use  the  old  mansion 
of  William  Hamilton,  known  as  Bush  Hill,  and,  as  its  owner  was 
absent,  the  Governor  took  possession  of  it  on  the  31st,  and  it  was 
turned  into  a  hosj)ital.  By  this  time  the  guardians  had  abandoned 
the  poor  committed  to  their  charge.  "The  consternation  of  the 
people  of  Philadelphia  at  this  period,"  says  Carey,  "was  carried 
beyond  all  bounds.  Dismay  and  affright  were  visible  in  almost 
every  person's  countenance.  Most  of  those  who  could  by  any 
means  make  it  convenient,  fled  from  the  city.  Of  those  who  re- 
mained, many  shut  themselves  up  in  their  houses,  and  were  afraid 
to  walk  the  streets.  The  smoke  of  tobacco  being  regarded  as  a 
preventive,  many  persons,  even  women  and  small  boys,  had  segars 
almost  constantly  in  their  mouths.  Others,  placing  full  confidence 
in  garlic,  chewed  it  almost  the  whole  day;  some  kept  it  in  their 
pockets  and  shoes.  Many  were  afraid  to  allow  the  barbers  or  hair- 
dressers to  come  near  them,  as  instances  had  occurred  of  some 
of  them  having  shaved  the  dead  and  many  having  engaged  as 
bleeders.  Some,  who  carried  their  caution  pretty  far,  bought  lan- 
cets for  themselves,  not  daring  to  be  bled  with  the  lancets  of  the 
bleeders.  Many  houses  were  hardly  a  moment  of  the  day  free 
from  the  smell  of  gunpowder,  burned  tobacco,  nitre,  sprinkled  vine- 
gar, etc.  Some  of  the  churches  were  almost  deserted,  and  others 
wholly  closed.  The  coffee  house  was  shut  up,  as  was  the  city 
library,  and  most  of  the  public  offices — three  out  of  the  four  daily 
papers  were  discontinued,"  the  Federal  Gazette  being  the  exception. 
"Many,*'  he  continues,  "were  almost  incessantly  employed  in  puri- 
fying, scouring  and  Avhitewashing  their  rooms.  Those  who  ven- 
tured abroad  had  handkerchiefs  or  sponges  impregnated  with  vine- 
gar, or  smelling  bottles  full  of  the  thieves'  vinegar.  Others  car- 
ried pieces  of  tarred  rope  in  their  hands  or  pockets,  or  camphor 
bags  tied  around  their  necks.  The  corpses  of  the  most  respectable 
citizens,  even  of  those  who  did  not  die  of  the  epidemic,  were  car- 
ried to  the  grave  on  the  shafts  of  a  chair,  the  horse  being  driven 
by  a  negro,  unattended  by  a  friend  or  relative,  and  without  any 
sort  of  ceremony.     People  hastily  shifted  their  course  at  the  sight 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  Ill 

of  ;i  hearse  coming  toward  them.  Many  aever  walked  on  the  foot 
path,  inn  went  in  the  middle  of  the  streets,  tc  avoid  being  infected 
in  passing  i>,\  houses  wherein  people  had  died.  Acquaintances 
and  friends  avoided  each  other  in  the  streets,  and  only  signified 
their  regard  l»y  a  cold  nod.  The  old  custom  of  shaking  hands  fell 
into  such  general  disuse,  that  many  shrank  back  in  affright  at  even 
the  offer  of  the  hand.  A  person  with  n  crape  or  any  appearance 
of  mourning,  was  shunned  like  a  riper.  And  many  rained  them- 
selves highly  on  the  skill  and  address  with  which  t  hey  got  to  wind- 
ward of  every  poison  whom  they  met.  [ndeed,  it  is  not  probable 
that  London,  at  the  last  stage  of  the  plague,  exhibited  stronger 
marks  of  terror  than  were  to  ho  soon  in  Philadelphia  from  the 
L'ot  h  or  26th  of  August,  till  pretty  late  in  September." 

Many  of  the  Leading  people  of  the  city  had  already  gone  to 
summer  homes.  President  Washington  was  at  Mount  Vernon. 
On  September  12th,  a  meeting-  was  held,  at  which  ten  citizens 
volunteered  to  do  what  was  necessary  to  help  the  guardians  of  the 
poor  to).  The  hospital  at  Bush  Hill  had  become  such  a  terror 
to  the  people,  that  they  refused  to  enter  it  until  almost  ready  t<» 
die;  a  fact  which  accounts  for  the  frightful  mortality  in  that  in- 
stitution. Besides,  although  it  was  attended  by  competent  physi- 
cians, their  efforts  were  not  seconded  by  the  nursing,  which  counts 
for  so  mmh  in  the  treatment  of  yellow  fever.  On  the  15th,  Stephen 
Girard  and  Peter  Helm  voluntarily  assumed  the  management  of 
Bush  Hill,  the  former  having  full  charge  of  the  interior  work, 
containing  14  rooms,  and  this  heroic  action  on  the  part  of  these 
philanthropists  did  much  to  restore  public  confidence.  I>rs.  De- 
veze  and  Benjamin  Duffield  (p),  the  former  one  of  the  refugees 
from  Cape  Francois,  and  three  resident  physicians,  did  excellent 

(o)    Their  Dumber  was  afterward  Increased  to  twenty-six,  tour  of  whom  died. 

(p)  Dr.  Duffield  was  a  native  of  Bucks  county,  Pennsylvania,  born  in  17.".:;. 
the  son  of  Edward  Duffield,  and  an  early  member  of  Hie  American  Philosophic 
Society.  He  was  educated  at  the  College  of  Philadelphia  and  at  the  medical  bcdooI, 
having  had  Dr.  Redman  as  his  preceptor,  bul  the  stormy  period  of  his  closing 
studies  in  iTTt  allowed  do  commencement.  n<  also  studied  Id  Edioburgh.  11" 
was  in  the  military  hospital  ai  Reading,  and  was  a  public  lecturer  od  midwifery. 

Me    died    ill    1799 


112  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

work  in  the  hospital.  Under  the  new  management,  about  one 
thousand  patients  were  admitted  to  Bush  Hill,  of  whom  nearly  one- 
half  died.  This  hospital,  however,  was  only  for  the  poor,  and  it& 
inmates  represented  but  a  fraction  of  the  sick.  "Water  street,  be- 
tween Market  and  Eace  streets,  became  a  desert,"  writes  Dr.  Bush. 
"The  poor  were  the  first  victims  of  the  fever.  From  the  sudden 
interruption  of  business,  they  suffered  for  a  while  from  poverty 
as  well  as  disease.  A  large  and  airy  house  at  Bush  Hill  (q)  about 
a  mile  from  the  city,  was  opened  for  their  reception.  This  house, 
after  it  became  the  charge  of  a  committee,  appointed  by  the  citi- 
zens on  the  14th  of  September,  was  regulated  and  governed  with 
the  order  and  cleanliness  of  an  old  and  established  hospital.  An 
American  and  French  physician  had  the  exclusive  medical  care  of 
it  after  the  22nd  of  September.  The  contagion,  after  the  second 
week  in  September,  spared  no  rank  of  citizens.  Whole  families 
were  confined  by  it.  There  was  a  deficiency  of  nurses  for  the  sick, 
and  many  of  those  who  were  emploj'ed  were  unqualified  for  their 
business.  There  was  likewise  a  great  deficiency  of  physicians  from 
the  desertion  of  some,  and  the  sickness  and  death  of  others.  At 
one  time  there  were  only  three  physicians  who  were  able  to  do 
business  out  of  their  houses,  and  at  this  time,  there  were  probably 
not  less  than  6,000  persons  ill  with  the  fever.  During  the  first 
three  or  four  weeks  of  the  prevalence  of  the  disorder,  I  seldom 
went  into  a  house  the  first  time  without  meeting  the  parents  or 
children  of  the  sick  in  tears.  Many  wept  aloud  in  my  entry,  or 
parlor,  who  came  to  ask  for  advice  for  their  relations.  Grief  after 
a  while  descended  below  weeping,  and  I  was  much  struck  in  ob- 
serving that  many  persons  submitted  to  the  loss  of  relations  and 
friends  without  shedding  a  tear,  or  manifesting  any  other  of  the 
common  signs  of  grief.     A  cheerful  countenance  was  scarcely  to 

(q)  Bush  Hiil  was  the  residence  of  Andrew  Hamilton,  the  grounds  of  which 
occupied  a  tract  about  corresponding  to  the  space  between  Twelfth  and  Nine- 
teenth streets  and  Vine  street  and  Fairmount  avenue;  except  at  one  point  between 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets,  where  it  extended  southward  as  far  as  Race 
street.  The  mansion  and  subsequent  hospital  buildings  erected  on  this  tract  were 
all  included  by  the  public  under  the  term  "Bush  Hill." 


in   PHILADELPHIA.  I]:: 

be  seen  in  the  city  for  six  weeks,  i  recollect  once,  on  entering  the 
lions*'  of  a  poor  man,  to  have  met  ;i  child  of  two  years  old,  thai 
smiled  in  my  face.  I  was  strangely  affected  by  this  sight  (so 
discordant  to  my  feelings  at  tin-  slate  of  the  city),  before  l  i  -«-«-«•  I  - 
lected  the  age  and  ignorance  of  the  child.  I  was  confined  the  next 
day  by  an  attack  of  the  fever,  and  was  sorry  to  hear,  on  my  recov- 
ery, that  the  father  and  mother  of  this  little  creature  died,  a  few 
days  after  my  last  visit  to  them.  The  streets  everywhere  discov- 
ered marks  of  the  distress  that  pervaded  the  city.  More  than  one- 
hall'  the  houses  were  shut  up,  although  not  more  than  one-third 
of  t  he  inhabitants  had  lied  into  the  country.  In  walking  for  many 
hundred  yards,  few  persons  were  met,  exeepl  such  as  were  in  ipiesf 

of  a  physician,  a  nurse,  a  bleeder,  or  the  men  who  buried  the  dead. 
The  hearse  alone  kept  up  the  remembrance  of  the  noise  of  car- 
riages or  carts  in  the  streets.  Funeral  processions  were  laid  aside. 
A  black  man,  leading,  or  driving  a  horse,  with  a  corpse  on  a  pair 
of  (hair  wheels,  with  now  and  then  a  half  dozen  relatives  or  friends 
following  at  a  distance  from  it,  met  the  eye  in  most  of  the  streets 
of  the  city  at  every  hour  of  the  day, -while  the  noise  of  the  same 
wheels  passing  slowly  over  the  pavements,  kept  alive  anguish  and 
fear  in  the  sick  and  well,  every  hour  of  the  night.  But  a  more 
serious  source  of  the  distress  of  the  city  arose  from  the  dissensions 
of  the  physicians  about  the  nature  and  treatment  of  the  fever. 
It  was  considered  by  some  as  a  modification  of  the  influenza,  and 
by  others  as  the  jail  fever.  Its  various  grades  and  symptoms  were 
considered  as  so  many  diseases,  all  originating  from  different 
causes.  There  was  the  same  contrariety  in  the  practice  of  the 
physicians  that  there  was  in  their  principles.  The  newspapers  con- 
veyed accounts  of  both  to  the  public,  every  day.  The  minds  of 
the  Citizens  were  distracted  by  them,  and  hundreds  suffered  and 
died  from  the  delays  which  were  produced  by  an  erroneous  opinion 
of  a  plurality  of  diseases  in  the  city,  or  by  indecision  in  the  choice, 
or  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  remedies  of  their  physicians."  Ib- 
speaks  of  the  religious  feeling  abroad,  and  of  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  that    prevailed,   and   adds,   "but    the   virtues    which    were 


114  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

excited  by  our  calamity,  were  not  confined  to  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  United  States  wept  for  the  distress  of  their  capital. 
In  several  of  the  states,  and  in  many  cities,  and  villages,  days  of 
humiliation  and  prayer  were  set  apart  to  supplicate  the  Father 
of  Mercies  in  behalf  of  our  afflicted  city."  Provisions  and  supplies 
were  sent  to  the  afflicted  city.  It  was,  as  Thacher  says,  "a  mem- 
orable event  in  the  history  of  the  United  States."  The  number 
of  deaths  remained  below  20  a  day  until  the  28th  of  August. 
By  the  middle  of  September  it  was  ranging  about  50,  but  rose 
to  nearly  100  before  the  end  of  the  month.  On  the  9th  of  October 
it  went  up  to  102  and  on  the  11th  it  reached  the  highest  point,  119, 
and  for  the  next  two  days  was  but  little  below  that  figure.  A  re- 
freshing rain  fell  on  the  15th  of  October.  By  October  the  death 
rate  had  fallen  to  about  50  a  day,  and  by  the  end  of  the  month 
was  about  20.  The  first  week  in  November,  the  mortality  was 
about  twelve  per  diem,  and  it  came  down  to  6  on  the  9th,  making 
the  total  mortality  since  August  1st,  4,044.  The  general  estimate 
places  it  at  5,000,  or  about  one-tenth  of  the  entire  population. 

The  most  radical  method  of  treatment,  employed  in  this  epi- 
demic, and  the  one  that  attracted  the  most  attention  and  the 
severest  criticism,  was  that  of  Dr.  Rush.  Bleeding  and  purging 
were  its  chief  features.  "Never  before,"  he  writes,  "did  I  expe- 
rience such  sublime  joy  as  I  now  felt  in  contemplating  the  success 
of  my  remedies.  It  repaid  me  for  all  the  toils  and  studies  of  my 
life.  The  conquest  of  this  formidable  disease  was  not  the  effect 
of  accident,  nor  of  the  application  of  a  single  remedy;  but  it  was 
the  triumph  of  a  principle  in  medicine.  The  reader  will  not  won- 
der at  this  joyful  state  of  my  mind,  when  I  add  a  short  extract 
from  my  notebook,  dated  the  10th  of  September:  'Thank  God! 
Out  of  one  hundred  patients,  whom  I  have  visited,  or  prescribed 
for,  this  day,  I  have  lost  none.'  "  The  medication  upon  which  he 
placed  the  strongest  reliance  is  thus  described:  "It  was,"  says  Dr. 
Charles  Caldwell  (r),  a  pupil  at  the  time,  a  "mixture  of  ten  grains 
of  calomel  and  ten  of  jalap — a  dose  which  is  now  accounted  mod- 

(r)    Autobiography  of  Charles  Caldwell,  M.  D.,  1855. 


l.\    PHILADELPHIA.  11.-, 

erate,  at  least,  if  not  diminutive.  Bui  previously  to  thai  time 
calomel  had  never  heen  so  copiously  administered  in  Philadelphia 
uor,  as  far  as  I  am  informed,  in  any  other  pan  of  the  Middle  or 
Eastern  Atlantic  States.  From  three  to  five  or  six  grains  of  thai 
article  had  been  regarded  until  then  as  an  ample  dose."  Many 
of  his  opposers  called  it  "the  dose  of  ten  and  ten;"  Dr.  Rush  said: 
"Dr.  Kuhn  is)  called  it  a  murderous  dose!  Dr.  Hodge  called  ii  ;i 
dose  for  a  hurs<  !  And  Barton  called  it  a  devil  of  a  dose!*'  Dr. 
Rush  gave  the  prescription  to  the  apothecaries,  and,  in  tact,  to 
anyone  who  Mould  use  it,  and  the  former  were  taxed  beyond  their 
capacity  to  supply  the  demand  for  it.  He  does  not  hesitate  to  saj 
that  "not  less  than  6,000  of  the  inhabitants  of  Philach  lphia  prob- 
ably owe  their  lives  to  purging  and  bleeding,  during  the  late 
autumn."  He  employed  five  of  his  pupils  to  assist  him,  in  com 
pounding  this  prescription.  Many  physicians  adopted  the  method, 
the  first  of  them  being  Drs.  Grittitts,  Dr.  Say  it),  Dr.  Pennington, 
and  among  the  younger  pupils,  Drs.  Leib  (t),  Porter,  Annan,  Wood- 
house  and  Mease.  It  is  not  the  province  of  the  historian  to  discuss 
quesl  ions  of  therapeutics.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  pertinacity  with 
which  Rush  upheld  his  method  as  a  specific  in  yellow  fever,  gave 
rise  to  fierce  dissension,  led  to  his  resignation  from  the  College 
of  Physicians,  and,  in  other  ways,  influenced  his  subsequent  career. 
The  physicians  did  nobly,  as  a  rule,  and  suffered  greatly. 
"Rarely  has  it  happened,"  writes  Mathew  Carey,  one  of  the  pub- 
lic committee,  "that  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  gentlemen  of  the 
faculty,  have  sunk  beneath  the  labors  of  their  dangerous  profession, 
as  on  this  occasion.  In  five  or  six  weeks,  exclusive  of  medical 
students,  no  less  than  ten  physicians  have  been  swept  off,  Doctors 

(s)  Dr.  Kuhn.  in  a  manuscript  lecture  in  the  College  of  Physicians,  expresses 
himself  thus:  "Much  the  creator  number,  however,  of  those  who  died,  as  I  am 
informed,  were  attended  by  gentlemen  who  were  advocates  of  plentiful  bleed- 
ing, and  purging  with  calomel  and  jalap."  He  thiuks  the  fact  that  the  great 
mortality  occurred  after  that  treatment  became  prevalent  is  significant 

(t)  Dr.  Benjamin  Say.  1750-1813,  was  a  graduate  of  17S0,  and  active  in 
humane  societies.  Dr.  Michael  Leib,  17.~0-1S22.  was  a  studenl  of  Dr.  Rush.  He 
became  prominent   in  politics, 


116  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Hutchinson,  Morris,  Linn  (u),  Pennington,  Dodds;  Johnson,  Glent- 
worth,  Phile,  Graham  and  Green.  Scarcely  one  of  the  practicing 
doctors  that  remained  in  the  city,  escaped  sickness.  Some  were 
three,  four  and  five  times  confined."  Of  these  Dr.  James  Hutchinson, 
the  most  prominent,  was  port  physician  and  secretary  of  the  College 
of  Physicians,  a  man  whom  Dr.  Rush  described  as  being  "nearly 
as  large  as  Goliath  of  Gath."  He  was  a  native  of  Bucks  County, 
Pennsylvania,  born  in  1752,  and  received  his  education  at  well- 
known  academies  of  the  day,  and  at  the  College  of  Philadelphia, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  with  honors.  After  studying  medi- 
cine under  Dr.  Evans,  he  Avent  to  London  in  1774  and  studied 
under  Dr.  Fothergill.  On  his  return,  in  1777,  he  bore  dispatches 
from  Minister  Franklin  at  Paris,  and  when,  in  sight  of  the  Amer- 
ican coast,  a  British  cruiser  fired  upon  the  ship,  he  braved  the 
fire  in  an  open  boat  and  landed  safely  with  his  dispatches,  leav- 
ing on  the  captured  vessel  his  medical  books  and  other  personal 
effects.  He  soon  entered  the  army  as  surgeon-general  of  his  native 
province,  served  through  the  war,  and  also  became  a  member  of 
the  Committee  of  Safety.  He  became  a  professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  later  of  Chemistry,  and  was  prominent  in  public  af- 
fairs, having  the  friendship  of  Washington  and  other  eminent 
leaders.  Dr.  Kuhn  was  called  to  see  him  on  the  last  day  of  August, 
and  continued  to  attend  him  until  he  himself  became  ill.  Dr. 
Currie  (v)  visited  him  from  this  time  until  his  death.  Dr.  Barton 
seems  to  have  been  called  in  consultation  by  Currie,  and  Dr.  Rush 
also  called  and  volunteered  suggestions  as  to  treatment.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  he  recommended  free  purgation,  not- 

(u)  Lynn  is  the  proper  spelling-.  The  Glentworth  above  mentioned  is  not 
George  Glentworth.  The  latter  died  in  November,  1792.  It  may  have  been  Peter 
Glentworth  or  another  of  that  family,  or  Carey  may  have  made  a  mistake.  Dr. 
Rush  speaks  very  highly  of  Pennington  and  Morris,  whose  deaths  he  witnessed. 

(v)  Dr.  William  Currie,  a  native  of  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  was  born 
in  1754,  and,  although  educated  for  the  Episcopal  Church,  became  one  of  Dr. 
Kearsley's  pupils  and  attended  lectures  at  the  medical  school,  although  there  is 
no  record  of  his  having  received  a  degree.  He  Avas  a  surgeon  of  the  Revolution, 
became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  was  senior  physician  of  Magdalen 
Asylum.  He  was  a  prominent  physician,  an  amiable  man,  although  inclined  to 
a  love  for  satire.    He  died  in  1828. 


I\    PHILADELPHIA.  11? 

withstanding  the  fad  thai  he  had  had  "near  thirtj  stools  in  three 
days."  He  died  on  the  Tih  <>i  September.  "Eminent  as  ;i  practi- 
tioner, he  fell  a  viriim  to  his  aoble  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  humbler 
class  of  liis  IV I  low  citizens." 

When  the  epidemic  came  to  an  end,  a  warm  controversy  ai 
concerning  the  origin  of  the  pestilence  which  had  devastated  the 
city.  The  results  of  the  experience  bo  painfully  acquired  were 
various.  The  besl  reports  of  autopsies  were  made,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  epidemic,  at  Bush  Hill,  by  Dr.  Philip 
Syng  ['hysick,  who  had  started  in  practice  in  the  previ- 
ous autumn,  in  association  with  Dr.  Cathrall.  The  chief  work  of 
observation,  that  attended  with  the  greatest  public  results,  was 
performed  by  the  College  of  Physicians,  which  body  was  clearly 
recognized  by  Governor  Mittiin  as  the  official  organ  of  the  profes- 
sion. <  >n  October  :t(M  li,  lie  addressed  a  letter  to  the  <  College  asking 
its  advice  concerning  the  means  of  preventing  a  recurrence  of  the 
epidemic.  The  questions  of  origin,  contagiousness  ami  treatment 
had  divided  the  profession  into  two  parties;  Dr.  Rush,  whose  opin- 
ions were  widely  accepted  by  the  public,  being  the  Leader  of  a 
small  minority,  ami  Drs.  Kuhn,  Currie,  Hutchinson,  Barton  and 
others,  leading  the  majority.  The  contest  became  so  bitter  that, 
when  a  committee  was  chosen  to  answer  the  Governor,  "the  most 
rounded  physician  of  Philadelphia"  was  omitted  from  the  list,  and 
a  second  committee  finally  reported  in  favor  of  origin  by  importa- 
tion, contrary  to  the  conviction  of  Dr.  Liush  (w).  Dr.  Bush  then 
felt  obliged  to  resign  from  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  in  a  let 
ter  of  November  5th,  1793,  accompanied  by  the  presentation  of  an 
edition  of  Sydenham's  works,  he  severed  his  relations  with  the 
inst  itution  he  had  been  so  active  in  founding.  It  was  at  this  period 
that  the  influence  of  Bush,  both  with  the  medical  profession  and 
the  public  in  general,  was  greatest,  ami  he  set  out  still  more  ag- 
gressively to  promulgate  his  system  of  medical  theory  and  practice. 


(w)  The  publication  of  tin-  opinion  was  not  until  the  26th;  tliat,  however,  was 
merely  in<i<ieiit.il.  Drs.  Redman,  Foulke  and  Leib  dissented  from  it.  although,  as 
president,  Dr.  Redman  signed  it. 


118  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

He  published  an  exhaustive  volume  on  the  late  epidemic,  which 
remains  to  this  day  the  authority  on  the  fatal  scourge  of  '93.  In 
spite  of  their  dissensions,  however,  the  profession  nad  done  such 
valuable  work  that  the  Governor  and  Assembly,  in  March,  1794, 
asked  the  College  for  suggestions  for  a  better  health  law.  The 
result  was  the  establishment  of  a  law  providing  for  a  health 
office,  with  tAventy-flve  inspectors,  a  health  officer,  a  consulting  phy- 
sician, and  a  resident  physician,  at  the  lazaretto,  or  "marine  hos- 
pital," as  it  was  called.  This  body  became  known  as  the  Board 
of  Health  and  had  especial  charge  of  the  "marine''  and  "city" 
hospitals,  the  latter  referring  to  Bush  Hill  and  its  successors.  It 
is  the  first  legal  ancestor  of  the  present  health  board  organization^ 
although  it  did  not  assume  the  character  of  the  modern  board  un- 
til some  y ears  later. 

During  the  rest  of  the  decade  the  yellow  fever  visited  differ- 
ent cities  in  successive  years.  In  1793,  Philadelphia  was  the  only 
sufferer.  In  '94,  she  had  but  few  cases,  but  havoc  was  wrought 
in  Baltimore  and  New  Haven;  while  in  1795,  the  fever  visited  New 
York,  Norfolk  and  Charleston,  and  in  '96  invaded  Boston  and 
some  other  places.  Then,  in  '97,  it  returned  with  virulence  to 
Philadelphia  and  carried  off  above  1,200.  The  epidemic  qf  '97  be- 
gan on  a  vessel  at  the  Pine  street  wharf  on  July  23rd.  Other  ves- 
sels were  attacked  by  the  end  of  the  month  and  the  disease  spread 
toward  Southwark,  with  isolated  cases  throughout  the  city.  Sev- 
eral physicians  died,  among  whom  were  Drs.  Annan  (x),  Pleasants 
and  Thompson.  One  of  the  most  important  results  of -this  epi- 
demic, from  an  historical  standpoint,  had  its  origin  in  a  letter  of 
Governor  Mifflin  to  Dr.  Bush,  dated  November  6th,  of  which  the 
following  is  an  extract:  "1  have  requested  the  opinion  of  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  on  the  subject,  but,  as  I  understand  that  you 
and  many  other  learned  members  of  the  Faculty  do  not  attend  the 
deliberations  of  that  institution,  the  result  of  my  inquiries  cannot 

(x)  Dr.  William  Annan,  who  was  one  of  the  original  Bush  Hill  attendants 
of  '93  and  a  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  died  October  4,  1797,  a  young 
man.  Among  those  "who  were  seriously  ill,  were  Drs.  Physick,  Rej'nolds,  Strong. 
Boys,  B.  Dufneld,   Hayworth,   Church  and   Caldwell. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  llfl 

be  perfectly  satisfactory  without  your  co-operation  and  assist- 
ance." Dr.  Kusli  summoned  his  friends  aboul  hira  and  prepared 
a  repori  which  emphasized  the  points  at  issue  and  especially  thai 
of  the  origin  of  the  fever,  h  was  signed  by  Drs.  Benjamin  Rush, 
Charles  <  Jaldwell,  William  Dewees,  John  Redman  Coxe,  Philip  Syng 
Physick,  James  Reynolds,  Francis  Bowes  Sayre,  John  C.  Otto, 
William  Boys,  Samuel  Cooper,  James  Stuart,  Felix  Pascalis  and 
Joseph  Strong.  Most  of  these  were  young  practitioners.  Not  long 
after,  there  appeared  in  The  Weekly  Magazine  a  notice  that:  "A 
Society  for  investigating  the  causes  for  the  late  mortality  in  this 
city  is  aboul  to  be  instituted,"  and  subscribers  were  directed  to 
inquire  at  41  Chestnut  street.  On  the  8th  of  January,  1798,  the 
above  named  and  some  other  gentlemen  formed  "The  Academy  of 
Medicine  of  Philadelphia."  Dr.  Physick  was  president;  Drs.  Cald- 
well and  Reynolds  vice-presidents,  and  Dr.  Sayre  secretary.  Other 
names  mentioned  in  the  scanty  records  of  the  Society  are  Drs. 
Budd,  Heylin,  Gallaher,  Mease  and  La  Roche.  From  the  first  offi- 
cial  report  of  the  Academy,  dated  March  20th,  it  is  evident  thai 
its  principal  object  was  to  promulgate  what  its  members  consid- 
ered correct  views  of  the  nature  and  origin  of  yellow  fever.  The 
Society  seems  not  to  have  lasted  much  more  than  a  year  or  two, 
and  some  of  its  founders,  six  years  later,  organized  the  Med- 
ical Lyceum.  The  latter  continued  in  existence  for  more  than  a 
decade.  The  American  Medical  Society  still  existed,  and  the 
Philadelphia  Medical  Society  had  been  resurrected  and  included 
members  of  all  societies  in  its  weekly  meetings.  It  does  not  any- 
where appear  that  Dr.  Bush,  in  founding  the  Academy  of  Medicine. 
had  any  intention  of  impairing  the  prestige  of  the  <  Jollege  of  Physi- 
cians; or  that,  in  resigning  from  the  latter,  he  had  any  ol her  design 
than  that  of  promoting  harmony.  In  his  brief  letter  of  resignal  ion 
he  subscribed  himself  the  "College's  well  wisher."  and  further 
test i tied  his  kindly  feeling  by  presenting  to  the  library  of  the  in- 
stitution a  copy  of  Wallis'  edition  of  the  works  of  Sydenham  (3 1. 
The  epidemic  of  L798  was.  in  some  respects,  more  severe  than 
ivi     This  copy  is  n..  longer  in  the  library  of  the  col 


120  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

that  of  '93.  Ill  April,  an  efficient  Board  of  Healtli  was  constituted. 
Cases  of  yellow  fever  appeared  as  early  as  June  2d,  and  immedi- 
ately stringent  sanitary  laws  and  rigorous  regulations  were 
enforced.  Vessels  arriving  on  the  5th  of  July  from  the  West  Indies 
were  supposed,  by  some,  to  harbor  the  fever.  It  first  prevailed 
extensively  in  Water  Street,  between  Spruce  and  Walnut,  and  dur- 
ing the  first  week  in  August,  there  were  fifty-three  deaths.  By  this 
time,  the  city  was  being  deserted  more  rapidly  than  in  '93,  and,  prob- 
ably, before  the  middle  of  September,  three  times  as  many  persons 
as  in  the  last-named  epiemic,  had  fled.  Some  who  had  previously 
remained,  now  abandoned  their  homes.  "The  number  who  fled 
from  the  city,"  says  one  account  (z),  "has  been  estimated  at  three- 
fourths  to  five-sixths  of  the  whole  inhabitants;  the  total  number 
of  inhabitants  has  been  estimated  at  fifty  to  seventy  thousand." 
Drs.  Physick  and  Cooper  had  charge  of  the  City  Hospital;  Drs. 
Sayre,  Mease  and  Kinlaid,  were  inspectors  of  the  northern  part  of 
the  city;  Drs.  Church  and  B.  Dufiield  of  the  southern,  and  Dr.  S.  Duf- 
field  had  charge  of  the  poor.  The  malignancy  and  fatality  were  at 
first  greater  than  in  '93.  The  physicians  who  remained  at  their  posts 
in  the  city  were  Drs.  Bush,  Griffitts,  Mease,  Wistar,  Gallaher,  Cald- 
well, Harris,  Conover,  Proudfit,  Leib,  Church,  Boys,  S.  Duffield,  B. 
Dufiield,  Parke,  Stuart,  Strong,  Biglow,  Kinlaid,  Pfiefer,  Yeatman, 
Trexo,  Monges,  Pascallis,  La  Roche  and  Devivier  (a).  Dr. 
Cooper  was  the  first  victim  among  the  physicians.  The 
City  Hospital  on  Sassafras  Street,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Schuylkill  River,  was  in  a  bad  place,  and  tents  were 
substituted  near  Spruce  and  Chestnut  streets,  which  were  ready 
by  the  24th  of  August.  These  accommodated  nearly  2,000, 
and  proved  so  advantageous  that  another  camp  was  established 
at  Master's  Place,  two  miles  north,  on  the  Germantown  road.  The 
rate  of  mortality  per  day,  beginning  in  the  neighborhood  of  20  as 
early  as  the  11th  of  August,  crept  up  to  near  50  by  the  26th;  it 
exceeded  100  on  September  28th,  when  it  reached  106,  the  highest 

(z))    Aii   excellent  history   by   Thomas    Condie  and  Richard  Folwell,  1798. 
(a.)    Drs.  Currie,  Sayre  and  Dewees  are  also  said  to  have  remained. 


IN    PBILADE1  UNA.  [21 

pate  of  the  season.  It  dropped  to  Dear  50  about  October  3d,  and 
i»\  November  5th,  ;i  total  of  over  3,645  interments  was  recorded. 
The  estimate  of  1,000  \\;is  believed  i<»  cover  ;MI  the  deaths  in  and 
Dear  the  city.  The  uext  year  il7!>!>)  the  disease  first  appeared  in 
ivnn  street,  and,  according  to  the  Board  of  Bealth,  the  mortality 
was  1,276.  In  L802-'3-,5-,19  and  '20,  the  disease  prevailed  more  or 
less  extensively,  the  mortality  ranging  from  a  minimum  of  -<>  i<>  ;i 
maximum  of  400.  These  frequently  recurring  epidemics  bad  ;>  most 
disastrous  effect  upon  the  trade  of  Philadelphia,  and  "forever 
rained  its  mere  commercial  supremacy"  (b). 

The  most  eminent  physician  in  America  was  also  the  chief  of 
the  many  heroes  who  battled  with  the  pestilence.  It  was  chiefly 
his  writings  on  yellow  lever  that  won  lor  him  from  Europe  the 
title  of  the  "Sydenham  of  America."  "When  this  grand  produc- 
tion," said  Dr.  Lettsom  of  London,  "uniting  in  an  almost  unprece- 
dented degree,  sagacity  and  judgment,  first  appeared,  Europe 
was  astonished.  Even  at  this  moment  I  cannot  recall  to  mind  the 
phenomena  connected  with  the  rise,  progress  and  effect  of  that 
dreadful  malady  without  admiration,  and  the  conduct  of  the  physi- 
cians without  veneration.  Contemplate  this  illustrious  Professor, 
emerging  from  the  prostration  of  strength  induced  by  this  fever; 
his  aged  mother  dying;  his  sister  a  corpse;  his  pupils  dead  around 
him;  flying  from  house  to  house,  wherever  infection  is  raging;  at 
home,  his  apartments  tilled  with  supplicants  diseased  and  dying; 
Death  almost  everywhere  stalking  over  t  he  vict  ims  from  the  raging 
pestilence;  he,  nevertheless,  braves  the  uplifted  and  poisoned  dart, 
emulating  the  Father  of  the  Apollonean  art  at  the  plague  of  Athens 
and  the  descendants  of  JEsculapius  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  if  there 
is  an  example  of  heroic  fort  it  ude — of  disinterested  exposure  to  peril 
I'm'  the  public  welfare  anywhere  recorded  in  medical  history, 
superior  to  those  which  dignified   this  unappalled   and   luminous 


iln  Address  of  Dr.  s.  Wier  Mitchell,  1887.  New  Vork  became  firs!  in  popubv 
lion  in  1810,  when  Philadelphia  numbered  95,000.  The  Qrsl  American  novelist, 
Charles  Brockden  Brown,  <>r  Philadelphia,  found  material  for  one  <>t"  hi-  novels, 
Arthur  Mervyn,  in  the  worst  of  these  years,  '93. 


122  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Philanthropist,  let  that  character  be  venerated  as  one  of  the  first 
benefactors  of  mankind." 

"La  conduite  du  Dr.  Bush,"  wrote  the  celebrated  Zimmerman 
in  1794,  "a  merite,  que  non  settlement,  la  ville  de  Philadelphie,  mais 
l'humanite  entiere  lui  eleve  tine  statue,"  and  a  century  later  an 
eminent  member  (c)  of  the  profession  in  America  said,  in  the  calmer 
pose  of  educating  them.  Locating  on  Market  street,  just  below 
and  grown,  and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  he  will  remain  forever 
with  us,  not  it  may  be,  as  the  greatest  of  our  physicians,  but  as  the 
first  of  our  great  physicians." 

This  estimate  by  a  most  competent  critic,  is  correct  in  so  far 
as  it  applies  to  Rush,  the  physician.  He  was,  however,  not  only  a 
great  physician,  but  a  great  deal  more.  When,  to  his  life  work  as  a 
physician,  are  added  his  labors  in  the  fields  of  politics,  social 
science  and  philosophy,  the  sum  total  is  such  as  to  excite  the  high- 
est admiration.  Still  an  essential  element  of  true  greatness  would 
have  been  lacking  had  not  Rush  been  a  man  of  the  greatest  firm- 
ness of  purpose,  united  with  stainless  integrity.  Taking  him  "for 
all  in  all,"  he  stands  out  prominently  amid  a  crowd  of  distin- 
guished contemporaries  and  successors,  as  the  greatest  man  in  the 
medical  profession  of  America. 

It  was  unfortunate  for  his  happiness  in  life,  and  perhaps  also 
for  his  posthumous  reputation,  that  he  possessed  so  facile  a  pen 
and  so  eloquent  a  tongue.  A  man  who  is  sluggish  in  repartee  and 
who  finds  writing  an  insuperable  task,  may  acquire  a  reputation 
for  toleration  and  meek  endurance  of  injury,  which  is  properly  to 
be  ascribed  to  dullness  and  stupidity.  Rush  was  ever  aggressive 
in  attack  and  resolute  in  defence,  and,  as  is  well  known,  he  made 
many  enemies;  for  it  is  one  thing  to  convict  and  quite  another  to 
convince  an  antagonist. 

Descended  from  Friends,  although  not  a  member  of  their 
Society,  Rush,  at  the  most  impressible  period  of  his  life,  had 
breathed  the  atmosphere  of  Princeton,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is 

(c)    Address  before  the  American  Medical  Association,   in  1889,   by  William 
Tepper,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 


1\    PHIL  I  DELPHI  A. 

largely  compounded  of  Scotch  philosophy.  Later,  he  became 
imbued  with  the  s< ientific  spirit  of  the  day,  of  which  his  friend, 
Franklin,  u;is  the  ablest  living  exponent.  Nevertheless,  Prince- 
ton's yearning  lor  a  constructive  system,  as  the  highest  product  of 
truth,  dominated  Benjamin  Rush,  from  his  school  days  \\  ii  h  Pinley 
down  to  the  Latest  period  <•!'  his  life.  This  was  the  basis  "t"  his 
mental  and  moral  character,  and  this  ii  w;is  which  led  t<>  his  differ- 
ences with  Washington  and  with  the  leaders  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion. Washington  was  preeminently  practical,  and  well  knew  tliat 
a  republic,  especially  in  its  beginnings,  must  of  necessity  partake  of 
the  imperfections  of  its  constituents.  <>n  the  other  hand,  Bush 
longed  Tot-  an  ideal  system  of  government,  without  sufficiently 
appreciating  tin-  fact  that  ii  would  require  ideal  men  to  conduct 
it.  The  republic,  as  it  was,  was  a  Bore  disappointment  to  him. 
So  with  his  conflict  with  tin-  medical  profession.  Given  a  mind 
like  that  of  Rush,  dominated  by  the  love  of  a  constructive  philo- 
sophical system,  placed  in  a  community  dominated  by  the  scientific 
spirit  of  Franklin,  and  misunderstanding  and  conflict  were  inevi- 
table. 

When  the  country  closed  with  thai  awful  decade  of  pestilence, 
Dr.  Kush  was  fifty-five  years  of  age  and  in  his  prime.  Main  of  his 
contemporaries  were  dead:  some  had  given  up  active  life  and  from 
some  hewas  estranged  by  his  uncompromising  adherence  t"  his  con- 
victions of  duty.  The  younger  men  of  the  profession,  some  of  whom 
were  to  be  the  leaders  of  medical  science  in  the  future,  were  his  most 
devoted  adherents.  The  history  of  his  life  is  as  follows:  Ho  was 
born  on  his  father's  farm  in  Byberry  Township  (about  fourteen 
miles  northeast  of  Philadelphia)  on  the  day  preceding  Christmas 
Of  1745.  It  was  in  174o  that  Dr.  Cadwalader  published  tin-  first 
medical  book  in  the  province.  John  Kush.  the  great-grandfather  of 
Dr.  Kush.  a  favorite  captain  of  horse  in  Cromwell's  army,  came  '<• 
Pennsylvania  after  the  death  of  the  great  Protector  -lames,  the 
Captain's  son,  had  a  child,  John,  who  was  Benjamin's  father.  Both 
the  grandfather  and  father  of  the  doctor  were  gunsmiths,  as  well 
as  farmers.     John    Kush,  the  father,  and   the  Rev.  Samuel    Pinley 


124  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

married  sisters,  who  were  earnest  Presbyterians  and  women  of 
great  strength  of  character.  Mr.  Eush  died  when  Benjamin  was 
but  six  years  old,  leaving  his  widow,  Susanna  Morris  Rush,  and 
two  children,  Benjamin  and  a  younger  child,  Jacob.  They  were 
so  fortunate  as  to  have  for  their  guardian  such  a  man  as  the 
excellent  preacher  and  principal  of  Nottingham  Academy.  Mrs. 
Rush  had  great  ambitions  for  her  sons,  and,  upon  her  husband's 
death,  at  once  removed  to  Philadelphia  to  earn  money  for  the  pur- 
pose of  educating  them.  Locating  on  Market  street,  just  below 
Second,  she  opened  a  grocery  and  provision  store,  with  the  sign  of 
"The  Blazing  Star,"  and  hallowed  the  place  with  her  lofty  aims. 
When  Benjamin  was  about  eight  or  nine  years  old  he  went  to  live 
with  his  uncle  Finley  in  Nottingham,  Maryland,  about  sixty  miles 
southwest  of  Philadelphia,  where  the  latter  was  the  pastor  of  a 
church  in  the  neighborhood,  and  head  of  Nottingham  Academy. 
Rev.  Samuel  Finley,  D.  D.,  was  famous  both  as  a  preacher  and  a 
teacher.  He  was  subsequently  called  to  the  presidency  of  the  College 
of  New  Jersey.  Nottingham  was  an  ideal  location  for  an  academy  in 
those  days.  "The  inhabitants  of  this  retired  spot,"  says  Dr.  David 
Ramsay,  in  1813,  "were  plain  country  farmers,  who  cultivated  so 
indifferent  a  soil  that  they  could  not  derive  a  living  from  it  without 
strict  economy  and  the  daily  labor  of  their  own  hands.  Their 
whole  time  was  occupied  in  providing  the  necessary  supplies  for 
their  support  in  passing  through  the  world,  and  in  preparing  them 
for  a  better.  To  assist  them  in  the  latter,  they  enjoyed  the  bless- 
ings of  public  preaching  and  the  faithful  evangelical  labors  of  one 
of  the  wisest  and  best  of  men.  In  their  comparatively  distressed 
situation,  as  to  worldly  matters,  their  morals  were  a  virtual 
reproach  to  the  inhabitants  of  many  districts  who  enjoyed  a  much 
greater  proportion  of  the  good  things  of  this  life.  Almost  every 
dwelling  house  was  so  far  a  church  that  the  reading  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  the  offering  up  of  family  prayers,  generally  recurred 
every  day;  there  were  few,  or  rather  no  examples  of,  or  tempta- 
tions to,  immorality  of  any  kind."  There  was  plain  living  and  high 
thinking.     "Among  these  people,"  he  continues,  "remarkable  for 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  [25 

their  simplicity,  industry,  morality    and    religion,    young    Rusta 
spent  five  years  of  his  early  youth  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  I  h<- 
Greek  and  Latin  Languages.    1 1 < - 1« -  also  be  learned  much  of  human 
nature,  and  began  i<>  class  mankind  according  to  their  Btate  of 
society,  a  distinction  of  which  he  profited  very  mucb  in  his  future 
speculations  in  political  philosophy.  Tin-  transition  from  the  varie- 
gated scenes  of  Philadelphia  to  this  sequestered  seal  of  Learning, 
industry  and  religious  habits,  could  nol   fail  of  making  a  strong 
impression  on  his  observing  mind.   Jle  there  acquired  a  reverence 
for  religion — its  consistent  professors  and  teachers;  a  prepossession 
in  favor  of  regular,  orderly  conduct,  of  diligence,  industry,  punc- 
tual attention  to  business,  and  in  general  of  such  steady  habits 
as  stamped  a  value  of  Ins  character  through  life.     In  Laying  a 
solid  foundation  for  correct  principles  and  conducl  he  was  essen- 
tially aided  by  !he  faultless  example,  judicious  advice  and  fatherly 
care  of  the  learned  and   pious   Dr.   Finley.      This    accomplished 
instructor  of  youth  was  not  only  diligent  and  successful  in  com- 
municating useful  knowledge,  Imt  extended   his  views  far  beyond 
the  ordinary  routine  of  a  common  education.     He  trained  his  pupils 
for  both  worlds,  and  in  his  intercourse  with  them   had  respect  to 
their  future  as  well  as  present  state  of  existence.    To  young  Hush 
he  was  devoted  by  peculiar  ties;   for  he   was  fatherless  and    the 
son  of  the  sister  of  his  beloved  wife.    A  reciprocation  of  affection 
took  place  between   the  parties,  much   to  the  credit»and   advan- 
tage of  both.    Benjamin  Rush  found  a  father  in  his  Uncle  Finley, 
and  when  adult,  repaid  the  obligation  in  kind  by  acting  the  pail  of 
father  to  his  son.  dames  E.  B.  Finley,  left  an  orphan  when   very 
young  by  the  death  of  his  father  in  L766.    This  new  obligation  was 
gratefully  acknowledged  by  the  subject  of  it.  particularly  by  giving 
the  name  of  Benjamin  Rush  to  his  tirst-born  son."    These  pleasant 
associations  did  much  to  influence  young  Rush,  and  his  progress 
was  so  rapid  that  he  entered  Princeton  in  his  fourteenth  year  under 
President  Davies,   and    received    his   degree   of    Bachelor    of    Arts 
before  the  end  of  his  fifteenth  year,  in  17»i<>.     He  was  educated  in 
the  profoundest  sense  of  the  term  education,  for  he  had  a  mind  that 


126  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

naturally  sought  high  levels  and  was  led  by  instinct  into  the  best 
channels  in  its  search  for  knowledge.  As  he  himself  afterward 
said  of  another,  he  "possessed  a  great  and  original  genius.  By 
genius,  in  the  present  instance,  I  mean  a  power  in  the  human 
mind  of  discovering  the  relation  of  distant  truths  by  the  shortest 
train  of  intermediate  propositions.  This  precious  gift  of  heaven 
is  composed  of  a  vigorous  imagination,  quick  sensibility,  a  talent 
for  extensive  and  accurate  observation,  a  faithful  memory  and  a 
sound  judgment."  The  mind  of  Benjamin  Bush  was  independent  in 
its  modes  of  thinking.  He  sought  for  the  foundation  principles 
that  underlie  the  whole  structure  of  truth.  This  characteristic, 
which  manifested  itself  quite  early  in  his  career,  was  very  marked 
throughout  his  life.  The  gift  which  he  possessed  of  giving  ready 
and  forcible  expression  to  his  thoughts  supplied  him  with  another 
source  of  power,  and  most  diligently  did  he  labor  to  cultivate  it  by 
the  study  of  rhetoric. 

The  time  now  came  for  his  choice  of  a  special  life  work.  No 
field  in  America,  among  the  professions,  called  more  loudly  for 
an  investigating  mind  than  that  of  medicine.  Dr.  Finley  must  have 
realized  this,  for  he  is  said  to  have  encouraged  Benjamin  Bush  to 
enter  it.  The  young  man  therefore  began  a  six  years'  apprentice- 
ship with  Dr.  Bedman,  according  to  the  methods  then  adopted  in 
professional  training.  Hippocrates  was  one  of  the  first  authors  to 
whom  he  was  introduced,  whose  works  he  translated  into  English; 
Sydenham  and  Boerhaave  were  also  translated  by  him.  The  spirit 
of  science  now  began  to  be  awakened.  His  observations  and 
experiments  were  as  original  and  extensive  as  Franklin's  were 
at  his  age.  He  made  much  of  writing — "saved  the  thoughts  other 
men  throw  away,"  and  by  his  methods  made  of  his  mind  a  sort  of 
mental  laboratory  and  storeroom,  which  was  of  the  greatest  value 
in  later  years.  At  the  same  time,  he  thus  improved  his  literary 
style.  In  his  seventeenth  year,  1762,  he  helped  Dr.  Bedman  in  the 
yellow  fever  epidemic,  writing  his  own  observations  of  the  disease. 
These,  with  Dr.  Redman's  own  account,  furnish  the  only  records  we 
possess  of  that  plague.    He  was  among  Dr.  Shippen's  pupils  that 


I.N    PHILADELPHIA.  127 

year  also,  and  engaged  with  the  greatest  industry  and  enthusiasm 
in  Laying  broad  foundations  in  both  medicine  and  genera]  culture 
during  the  years  of  his  apprenticeship  up  to  I  In-  time  <»i  I  he  found- 
ing of  a  medical  school  by  Morgan.  So  close  was  his  application 
thai  he  only  lost  two  days  in  those  six  years.  Il«-  began  his  firsl 
public  writing  when  aineteen  years  of  age,  and  his  pen  was  busy, 
ever  after,  on  themes  s<»  varied,  original  and  catholic  that  his 
medical  writings  form  but  one  section  of  his  work.  lli^ 
mind  was  as  universal  as  Franklin's.  So  many-sided  is  he 
that  no  other  figure  in  the  medical  history  of  Philadelphia 
is  so  difficult  to  portray,  not  because  of  the  insufficiency  of  man-rial 
for  a  biography  of  him,  bul  because  of  his  intense  and  pro- 
found personality  id).  His  description  of  Cullen  is  suggestive  of 
himself.  Alluding  to  his  definition  of  genius  already  referred  to.  he 
says:  "His  imagination  surveyed  all  nature  at  a  glance,  and,  like 
a  camera  obscura,  seemed  to  produce  in  his  mind  a  picture  of  the 
whole  visible  creation.  His  sensibility  was  so  exquisite  that  tin- 
smallest  portion  of  truth  acted  upon  it.  By  means  of  talent  for 
observation  he  collected  knowledge  from  everything  he  heard,  saw 
or  read,  and  from  every  person  with  whom  he  conversed.  His 
memory  was  the  faithful  repository  of  all  his  ideas,  and  appeared 
to  be  alike  accurate  upon  all  subjects.  Over  each  of  these  faculties 
of  his  mind  a  sound  judgment  presided,  by  means  of  which  he  dis- 
covered the  relation  of  ideas  to  each  other,  and  thereby  produced 
those  new  combinations  which  constitute  principles  in  science. 
This  process  of  the  mind  has  been  called  invention  ami  is  totally 
different  from  a  mere  capacity  of  acquiring  learning,  or  collecting 
knowledge  from  the  discoveries  of  others.     It  elevates  man  to  a 


nil  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  much  of  his  manuscript  journal,  autobiography, 
ami  tin-  like,  arc  reserved  from  the  public  for  the  appearance  of  a  biographer 
who  «an  give  him  the  sympathetic,  impartial  and  adequate  treatment  he  deserves. 
Only  two  or  three  shon  addresses  anil  articles  fitly  representing  his  versatility 
exist.  Ramsay  has  shown  his  character  as  a  pbysiciau  with  sympathy;  Richard- 
son has  given  a  glimpse  of  his  catholicity  of  mind:  Popper  has  emphasised  his 
ability  as  an  organizer  and  his  constructive  genius,  and  Jackson  has  been  his  de- 
fender. Others  give  narrative  or  eulogy  for  the  most  part,  so  that  his  work- 
are,  after  all.  his  Post   biography. 


128  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

distant  resemblance  of  his  maker,  for  the  discovery  of  truth  is  the 
perception  of  things  as  they  appear  to  the  Divine  Mind."  Rusk 
himself  certainly  possessed  the  capacity  for  invention.  Again,  he 
says:  "The  difference  between  error  and  truth  is  very  small."  He 
listened  to  authorities  great  and  small  only  so  far  as  they  carried 
conviction  to  his  mind.  "To  believe  in  great  men,"  said  he,  "is 
often  as  great  an  obstacle  to  the  progress  of  knowledge  as  to  believe 
in  witches  and  conjurers.  It  is  the  image  worship  of  science;  for 
error  is  as  much  an  attribute  of  man  as  the  desire  of  happiness; 
and  I  think  I  have  observed  that  the  errors  of  great  men  partake 
of  the  dimensions  of  their  minds,  and  are  often  of  a  greater  mag- 
nitude than  the  errors  of  men  of  inferior  understanding."  This 
independent  love  of  truth,  without  regard  to  its  source,  was  so 
natural  to  him  that  it  seemed  absurd  to  him  that  some  men  should 
resent  it.  He  would  base  his  practice  as  readily  upon  a  principle 
discovered  by  a  comparatively  unknown  physician  in  a  neighbor- 
ing province  as  he  would  upon  one  of  which  Cullen  or  Sydenham 
were  the  discoverers.  This  feature  of  his  mind  is  well  illustrated 
in  his  essay  on  "Common  Sense."  "I  consider  it,"  he  says,  after 
giving  Heed's  definition,  "as  the  perception  of  things  as  they  appear 
to  the  greatest  part  of  mankind.  It  has  no  relation  to  their  being  true 
or  false,  right  or  wrong,  proper  or  improper.  For  the  sake  of  perspi- 
cuity, I  shall  define  it  to  be  Opinions  and  Feelings  in  unison  with  the 
Opinions  and  Feelings  of  the  bulk  of  Mankind.  From  this  definition 
it  is  evident  that  common  sense  must  necessarily  differ  in  different 
ages  and  countries,  and,  in  both,  must  vary  with  the  progress  of 
taste,  science  and  religion.  In  the  uncultivated  state  of  reason  the 
opinions  and  feelings  of  a  majority  of  mankind  will  be  wrong,  and, 
of  course,  their  common  or  universal  sense  will  partake  of  their 
errors.  In  the  cultivated  state  of  reason,  just  opinions  and  feelings 
will  become  general,  and  the  common  sense  of  the  majority  will  be 
in  unison  with  truth."  The  result  of  this  attitude  of  mind,  in  him- 
self, led  to  his  ignoring  the  common  or  prevalent  ideas  of  his  time. 
He  discovered  and  advocated  new  principles  in  connection  with 
such  subjects  as  agriculture,  temperance,  slavery,  suffrage,  educa- 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

lion,  morals  and  religion.  These  wen-  far  beyond  the  apprecia- 
tion of  bis  <»\vn  age,  although  accepted  as  axioms  in  our  <i;iv.  In 
some  of  his  views  he  may  b<-  said  to  have  been  in  advance  of  our 
own  time.  It  is  needless  to  Bay  thai  the  faults  in  the  character  of 
this  greal  man  were  ;is  greal  as  his  virtues,  for  I  hey  partook  of  the 
"dimensions  of  liis  mind."  They  can  easily  be  magnified,  however, 
out  of  nil  proportion  t<>  their  relative  importance  in  forming  an 
estimate  of  his  character.  His  was  the  attitude  of  the  fearless 
reformer,  who,  acting  through  tin-  courage  of  his  convictions, 
marches  on  with,  unswerving  purpose  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  ends.  He  "speaks  with  authority"  to  both  high  and  low,  know- 
ing no  height  bin  truth  and  no  depth  but  ignorance.  This  gave 
the  force  of  originality  to  his  criticisms,  making  them  often 
caustic  as  the  acid  of  the  chemist.  Such  was  Rush  at  the  ago  of 
twenty-one.  In  17GG  lie  left  Dr.  Redman's  tuition,  when  Dr.  Morgan 
was  planning  the  establishment  of  a  medical  school,  and  went  t<« 
the  great  University  of  Edinburgh,  which  "a  Cullen  supported  mid 
dignified."  During  the  two  years  he  spent  in  the  Scotch  capital, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  owed  much  to  the  influence  of  Cullen. 
He  says  of  Cullen  that  "he  appeared  to  have  overstepped  the  slow 
and  tedious  forms  of  the  schools,  and,  by  force  of  his  understand- 
ing, to  hare  seized  upon  the  great  ends  of  learning  without  the 
assistance  of  many  of  those  means  which  were  contrived  for  tin- 
use  of  less  active  minds."  Cullen  "was  an  accurate  anatomist  and 
an  ingenious  physiologist.  He  enlarged  the  boundaries  and  estab- 
lished  the  utility  of  Chemistry  and  thereby  prepared  the  way  for 
the  discoveries  and  fame  of  his  illustrious  pupil,  Dr.  Black.  II  ■ 
stripped  materia  medica  of  most  of  the  errors  that  had  been  accu- 
mulating in  it  for  two  thousand  years,  and  reduced  it  to  a  simple 
and  practical  science.  He  was  intimately  acquainted  with  all  tin- 
branches  of  natural  history  and  philosophy.  He  had  studied  everj 
ancient  and  modern  system  of  physic.  He  found  the  system  of  Dr. 
Boerhaave  universally  adopted  when  he  accepted  a  chair  in  the 
Hniversity  of  Edinburgh.  This  system  was  founded  chiefly  on  the 
supposed  presence  of  certain  acrid  particles  in  the  fluids,  and  in 
0 


130  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  departure  of  these,  in  point  of  consistency,  from  a  natural  state. 
Dr.  Cullen's  first  object  was  to  expose  the  errors  of  this  pathology, 
and  to  teach  his  pupils  to  seek  for  the  cause  of  diseases  in  the 
solids.  Nature  is  always  coy.  Ever  since  she  was  driven  from 
the  heart,  by  the  discovery  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  she  has 
concealed  herself  in  the  brain  and  nerves.  Here  she  was  pursued 
by  Dr.  Cullen;  and  if  he  has  not  dragged  her  to  public  view,  he 
has  left  us  a  clew  which  must  in  time  conduct  us  to  her  last  recess 
in  the  human  body.  Many,  however,  of  the  operations  of  nature 
in  the  nervous  system  have  been  explained  by  him;  and  no  candid 
man  will  ever  explain  the  whole  of  them,  without  acknowledging 
that  the  foundation  of  his  successful  inquiries  was  laid  by  the  dis- 
coveries of  Dr.  Cullen."  It  was  thus  most  natural  that  Rush  should 
have  chosen  to  become  a  physician  rather  than  a  surgeon, 
and  that  Chemistry  should  have  proven  his  special  field.  His  thesis 
was  on  a  chemical  experiment  designed  to  discover  what  part  fer- 
mentation had  in  digestion,  and  to  prove  that  in  three  hours  after 
deglutition,  the  aliment  in  the  stomach  did  undergo  acetous  fer- 
mentation. The  manner  in  which  he  used  his  own  stomach  as  a 
laboratory  was  characteristic  of  him.  His  paper  was  executed  in 
an  elegant  Latin  and  was  entitled:  De  Coctione  Ciborum  in  Vcn- 
triculo  (e),  "a  performance  so  accurate  in  experiment,"  says  Dr. 
Lettsom,  "and  so  ingenious  and  lucid  in  diction,  as  to  have  placed 
him  in  a  prominent  and  honorable  point  of  estimation  in  that  cele- 
brated school."  He  received  his  degree  in  1768  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
three. 

Two  interesting  incidents  of  his  student  life  may  be  noted. 
One  occurred  while  he  was  in  Scotland,  the  other  after  he  went  to 
London  in  the  early  winter  of  the  year  1768-9.  As  has  been  said, 
President  Finley  of  Princeton  died  in  1766,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  of  Paisley  was  chosen  to  be  his  successor,  but  declined.  A 
year  later  he  was  approached  again,  the  trustees  of  Princeton 

(e)  A  eopjr,  published  by  the  Edinburgh  School  in  1768,  is  in  the  British 
Museum  of  London  and  the  College,  of  Physicians  of  this  city.  It  is  dedicated 
to  Franklin,  Redman,  Shippen,  Morgan,  and  Smith,  and  to  Jacob  Rush,  his  brother. 
He  closes  with  a  grateful  tribute  to  Cullen. 


1\   PHILADELPHIA.  131 

choosing  their  brilliant  young  alumnns,  Rush,  to  undertake  the 
delicate  task  I>«»tli  of  persuading  Dr.  Witherspoon  to  realize  the 
importance  of  the  greal  work  opeu  to  aim,  and  thai  of  convincing 
the  presbytery  with  which  he  was  connected,  that  it  was  their 
duty  to  let  him  go.  I »r.  Witherspoon  was  an  aide  disciple  of  the 
philosophy  <>f  Kohl,  ami  the  Presbyterians  of  America  wanted 
Princeton  to  become  i  heir  loading  institution.  Xo  man  was  better 
fitted  than  Rush  to  bring  Witherspoon  and  Princeton  together. 
The  successful  issue  of  the  attempl  may  be  said  i<»  have  deter- 
mined the  subsequent  career  of  Princeton — his  beloved  alma 
mater.  That  Rush  was  no  less  able  in  political  than  in  philosophical 
controversy,  is  illustrated  by  the  following  incident: 

Soon  after  he  went  to  London,  he  attended,  on  one  occasion, 
a  society  for  general  discussion,  when  the  question  of  the  American 
colonial  controversy  came  up.  A  member  Mas  speaking  in  eloquent 
denunciation  of  the  spirit  of  rebellion  manifested  by  the  colonists, 
and  incidentally  asserted  that  even  if  America  had  cannon  Bhe 
had  not  ball  to  fire  from  them.  Dr.  Rush  arose,  and  "in  his  reply," 
says  Dr.  Lettsom,  "he  observed  that  if  the  Americans  possessed 
no  cannon-balls  they  could  supply  the  deficiency  by  digging  up 
the  skulls  of  those  ancestors  who  had  courted  expatriation  from 
the  old  hemisphere  under  the  vivid  hope  of  enjoying  more  ample 
freedom  in  the  new  one." 

That  winter  in  London,  and  a  portion  of  the  following  sum- 
mer spent  in  Paris,  closed  his  European  experience,  and  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia,  to  join  the  faculty  of  the  new  school  of 
medicine,  and  to  commence  the  career  which  led  him  subsequently 
to  find  his  name  echoed  from  one  end  of  the  old  world  to  the  other. 
kings  and  emperors  applauding  his  work  and  showing  their  appre- 
ciation of  his  deeds  by  medals  of  honor.  Such  was  the  man  who 
began  his  work  in  Philadelphia  in  1760  as  the  first  Professor  of 
Chemistry  in  the  new  medical  school,  the  brightest  ornament  of  its 
talented  faculty.  His  twenty-two  years  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry 
helped  to  establish  the  reputation  of  the  institution.  After  the 
reorganization  of  the  school  in  IT'.n,  he  was  for  six  years  professor 


132  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine,  and,  following  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Kuhn,  he  included  among  his  lectures  those  upon  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Medicine,  continuing  to  fill  both  chairs  for  sixteen 
years.  The  twenty-two  years  following  were,  however,  the  years 
of  his  greatest  influence  upon  the  medical  history  of  America  and 
the  world.  Indeed,  it  has  been  said  that  during  this  latter  period 
"the  history  of  Rush's  work  is  largely  the  history  of  American 
medicine"  (f).  It  was  here  that  not  only  his  mental  and  moral 
equipment,  but  also  his  splendid  powers  of  exrjression,  both  oral 
and  written,  molded  probably  two-thirds  of  all  the  medical 
students  of  his  time  (g),  comprising  two  generations'.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  he  publicly  taught  considerably  over  two  thousand 
students,  while  his  office  at  home  was  always  a  hive  of  apprentices. 
These  were  not  confined  to  the  western  continent,  but  included 
many  students  from  Europe.  The  famous  Cullen  himself  wrote  of 
Rush  in  1768  (h):  "It  is  very  convenient  for  me  to  write  by  Rush,, 
for  if  I  was  to  do  it  by  some  other  hands,  I  should  think  myself 
obliged  to  give  you  the  medical  history  of  Europe,  but  I  know  he 
can  give  it  to  you  in  a  better  manner."  Sixteen  years  later  he 
wrote  to  Rush  himself:  "1  shall  always  hold  it  as  my  highest  honor 
that  the  founders  of  the  medical  school  of  Philadelphia  were  all  of 
them  my  pupils,  and  if  it  can  be  known,  I  think  it  will  be  the 
most  certain  means  of  transmitting  my  name  to  a  distant  posterity, 
for  I  believe  that  this  school  will  one  day  or  other  be  the  greatest 
in  the  world."  Four  years  after  this,  1788,  he  writes:  "We  have  had 
for  a  year  or  two  past  much  fewer  gentlemen  coming  to  us  from 
America  than  formerly,  and  whether  it  is  owing  to  their  becoming 
wiser  in  judging  that  they  can  be  as  well  instructed  at  home,  or  to 
any  other  cause,  I  cannot  well  determine."  Again  he  says:  "The 
medical  school  of  Philadelphia,  as  the  chief  of  a  great  empire,  must 

(f)  Dr.  Pepper's  address. 

(g)  "We  find,  therefore,  only  five  medical  schools  in  existence  in  the  United 
States  in  1310,"  said  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  at  the  Centennial  Medical  Congress,  "with 
an  aggregate  nnrnber  of  medical  students  in  attendance  of  about  650,  of  whom 
about  100  received  in  that  year  the  degree  of  either  Bachelor  or  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine.   Two-thirds  of  this  whole  number  were  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania." 

(h)    Letter  to  Dr.  Morgan.     Rush  manuscripts  at  Ridgeway  Library. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  183 

flourish  more  and  inure,  while  1  am  afraid  the  University  of  l-Min- 
burgh  mav  decline  with  the  declining  slate  of  Great   Britain."     it 

was  about  ihis  time  that  k'ush  began  to  modify  the  system  of 
('alien  thai  he  had  advocated.  "In  the  autumn  of  L789,"  says  Dr. 
Ramsay,  "1  visited  Dr.  Liusb  and  was  received  by  him  in  his  study. 
He  said  he  was  preparing  for  his  aexl  course  of  lectures  in  self- 
defense;  that  the  system  of  Cullen  was  tottering;  that  Dr.  John 
Brown  had  brought  forward  some  new  and  Luminous  principles  of 
medicine,  but  they  were  mixed  with  others  which  were  extrava- 
gant; that  he  saw  a  gleam  of  light  before  him,  Leading  to  a  more 
simple  and  consistent  system  of  medicine  than  the  world  had  yet 
seen,  and  pointed  out  some  of  its  leading  features."  This  system, 
which  he  ever  after  sought  to  work  out,  was  characteristic  of  his 
mind,  and  was  based  upon  "the  unity  of  disease."  "This  wonder- 
ful vision,"  says  one  biographer  ti),  "may  be  thus  explained. 
Excitement  or  Life  is  a  unit,  and  this  can  be  accurately  divided  into 
healthy  and  morbid  only;  hence  there  can  be  but  one  disease,  that 
is,  morbid  excitement."  This  principle  he  worked  out  in  his  prac- 
tice to  a  very  large  degree,  though  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever 
conceived  his  efforts  to  establish  a  complete  system  as  more  than  a 
stage  of  medical  progress.  It.  is  evident,  however,  that  Rush 
yielded  more  and  more  to  the  dominance  of  his  love  for  a  philo- 
sophical system,  and  consequently  grew  farther  and  farther  away 
from  the  spirit  of  inductive  science  which  was  so  strong  in  his 
earlier  years.  The  inflexibility  with  which  he  held  to  his  system  as 
a  conviction  is  indicated  by  what  he  says  of  consultations,  as  early 
as  1793:  "I  have  passed  over  the  slanders  which  were  propagated 
against  me  by  some  of  my  brethren.  I  have  mentioned  them  only 
for  the  sake  of  declaring  in  this  public  manner  that  I  most  heartily 
forgive  them,  and  that  if  I  discovered  at  any  time  an  undue  sense 
of  the  unkindness  and  cruelty  of  those  slanders,  it  was  not  because 
I  felt  myself  injured  by  them,  but  because  T  was  sure  they  would 
irreparably  injure  my  fellow  citizens  by  lessening  their  confidence 

(it    Dr.  Samuel  Jackson  (of  Northumberland)  in  Lives  of  Eminent  American 
Physicians  and  surgeons.    1861. 


134  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

in  the  only  remedies  that  I  believed  to  be  effectual  in  the  reigning 
epidemic.  One  thing  in  my  conduct  toward  these  gentlemen  may 
require  justification,  and  that  is,  my  refusing  to  consult  with 
them.  A  Mahometan  and  a  Jew  might  as  well  attempt  to  wor- 
ship the  Supreme  Being  in  the  same  temple,  and  through  the 
medium  of  the  same  ceremonies,  as  two  physicians  of  opposite 
principles  and  practice  attempt  to  confer  about  the  life  of  the 
same  patient.  What  is  done  in  consequence  of  such  negotiations 
(for  they  are  not  consultations)  is  the  ineffectual  result  of  neutral- 
ized opinions." 

When  advised  to  leave  the  city  in  the  epidemic,  he  said:  "I 
resolved  to  stick  to  my  principles,  my  practice  and  my  patients  to 
the  last  extremity."  So  far  as  in  him  lay  he  was  determined  that 
the  principles  he  held  should  be  universally  recognized  as  forming 
the  basis  of  scientific  medicine.  Opposing  views  might  be  as  thick 
as  tiles  upon  the  housetops;  he  ignored  them.  This  fearlessness  of 
consequences  subjected  him  to  what  was  probably  the  fiercest 
attacks  ever  made  upon  any  physician  in  the  history  of  medicine. 
The  assaults  of  his  enemies  reached  their  climax  after  1793,  when 
they  assumed  their  bitterest  form  in  a  series  of  articles  which 
appeared  in  "Porcupine's  Gazette,"  and  which  were  written  by  a 
most  drastic  satirist,  William  Cobbett.  Cobbett  was  an  English- 
man, of  Tory  tendencies,  in  Philadelphia,  who  aspired  to  be  an 
American  Le  Sage,  under  the  cognomen  Peter  Porcupine.  He  began 
his  vituperations  in  September,  1797,  which  soon  became  so  scan- 
dalous that  a  libel  suit  was  brought  against  him.  Two  years  later, 
being  convicted  of  slander,  he  was  required  to  pay  a  fine  of  $5,000, 
which  Rush  is  said  to  have  distributed  among  the  poor.  This  so 
enraged  Cobbett  that  he  went  to  New  York  and  continued  his  publi- 
cation under  the  name,  The  Rvsh  Light,  and  which  he  finally 
removed  to  London.  He  imitated  Le  Sage's  attack  on  Botallus,. 
calling  Push  "the  Sangrada  of  America."  Dr.  Rush  was  once  even 
challenged  to  a  duel,  a  not  uncommon  episode  in  those  times. 
Although  his  friends  were  as  strong  and  loyal  as  his  enemies  were 
implacable,  he  sometimes  wearied  of  the  strife.    His  teachings,  his 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  l:;.-, 

character  and  the  force  of  liis  example,  however,  onlj  became  the 
more  widely  influential.  He  w;is  an  acknowledged  authority  in 
medicine;  learned  societies  at  home  and  abroad  honored  him; 
governments  of  both  hemispheres  soughl  his  advice  <»n  epidemics; 
the  King  of  Prussia  granted  him  a  medal,  and  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  presented  aim  with  a  diamond  ring.  Similar  testimonials 
from  many  other  sources  wore  not  lacking.     Hundreds  of  young 

men  went  forth  from  his  teachings,  inspired  by  him  to  lofty  con- 
ceptions  of  professional  usefulness.  His  public  addresses,  his  writ- 
ings and  his  conversation,  were  regarded  by  Bush  as  the  chosen 

instruments  by  which  his  own  earnest  convictions  of  truth  and 
duty  were  to  be  impressed  on  other  minds,  and  he  w;is  ever  ready 
and  forcible  in  their  use. 

In  his  works,  we  have  the  most  splendid  achievements  of  his 
career.  In  comparison  with  these,  the  details  of  his  life  sink  into 
insignificance.  It  is  not  the  purpose  here  to  enter  into  them  ij>. 
We  have  the  following  description  of  him  as  he  appeared  during 
the  last  five  years  of  his  life  to  a  student  (k):  "He  was  above  the 
middle  height,  very  erect,  rather  slender,  with  small  bones  and 
rather  thin,  his  hands  and  wrists,  feet  and  ankles,  being  small  and 
finely  formed.     His  face  was  thin,  nose  aquiline,  eyes  beautifully 

i.j)  Lives  such  as  that  of  Dr.  Rush  cannot  be  condensed,  lie  was  great  as 
a  plnlosopher.  a  physician,  a  sanitarian,  a  politician,  a  statesman  and  patriot. 
an  investigator,  a  writer,  an  orator,  a  leader,  a  teacher,  a  philanthropist,  a 
diplomat,  a  Christian  and  a  polished  gentleman  of  the  world.  He  was  a  friend 
of  Paine,  a  student  of  Rousseau,  a  patron  of  Witherspoon  and  Nisbett.  and  the 
friend  of  the  slave— so  original  and  catholic  were  his  sympathy  and  insight.  He 
Mas  a  member  of  nearly  all  the  great  organizations  of  the  time:  he  received  the 
degree  of  LL.  D.  from  Vale;  he  was  the  chief  founder  of  Dickinson  College,  of 
the  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Free  Negroes,  the  firsl  to  suggest  the  African 
Episcopal  Chur.h:  he  drafted  the  constitution  of  the  Philadelphia  Bible  Society, 
and  was  treasurer  of  the  Mint.  His  works  on  •Medical  Inquiries  and  Observa- 
tions," his  "Essays,  Literary.  Moral  and  Philosophical.'"  his  -'Lectures."  his  stud- 
ies on  the  Mind,  his  editions  of  Sydenham,  Pringle,  Cleghorn  and  Hillary,  his 
lay  "Sermons.'-  his  fugitive  contributions  to  the  periodicals,  and  those  unpublished 
were  so  numerous,  powerful,  and  Influential  thai  'hey  deserve  to  he  treated  in  a 
separate  work.  No  character  in  the  annals  of  medicine  offers  a  more  Interesting 
subject  for  biography.    He  deserves  a  greal  "Life"  and  a  national  monument. 

(k)  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson  of  Northumberland.  The  portrait  of  in-.  Rush  that 
Is  best  known  is  from  a  painting  by  Thomas  Sully  in  is.ii'.  and  is  said,  by  those 
who  knew   him.   to  be  excellent. 


13(5  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

set,  large,  blue,  mild  and  benevolent;  forehead  broad  and  high; 
head  long  in  the  transverse  diameter,  and  nearly  bald  from  the 
crown  forward;  his  hair  clubbed  behind  and  powdered;  his  face 
was  of  a  fair  and  healthy  complexion,  not  handsome  or  what  is 
called  fine-looking,  for  his  cheeks  were  fallen  in,  many  of  his  front 
teeth  lost,  and  age  and  care  had  left  its  wrinkles.  His  counte- 
nance, in  conversation,  was  highly  animated;  when  reading  to  him- 
self, or  going  abroad,  it  evinced  intense  thought,  entire  abstrac- 
tion and  firmness  of  purpose.  His  unfrequent  smile  was  peculiarly 
gracious,  but  he  hardly  ever  laughed.  When  walking  the  street, 
which  was  seldom,  he  was  very  erect,  step  firm,  elastic  and  rather 
military,  never  using  a  staff,  his  arms  folded  on  his  breast;  he 
uncovered  to  everyone,  poor  or  rich,  who  uncovered  to  him,  and 
his  passing  words  were,  'I  hope  you  are  very  well,  sir,'  uttered  with 
habitually  strong  but  mild  voice.  His  dress  was  very  plain,  gen- 
erally, of  dark-colored  cloth;  he  rode  in  a  plain  vehicle  with  two 
wheels  and  one  horse,  the  same  little  negro  by  his  side  who  had 
lived  with  him  more  than  thirty  years— master  and  man  now 
grown  old  together.  In  this  open  carriage  we  saw  him  facing  the 
storm  the  last  winter  of  his  life."  In  March,  1813,  "pneumonia 
typlioides"  became  prevalent,  and  on  April  11th,  he  was  attacked. 
His  friends,  Drs.  Mease,  Dorsey,  Griffitts  and  Physick  and  his  son, 
Dr.  James  Rush,  were  in  attendance.  Dr.  Mease  was  with  him  all 
day  of  the  19th,  when  his  life  closed,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years. 
He  was  buried  in  Christ  Church.  "From  one  end  of  the  United 
States  to  the  other,"  says  one  of  his  students  (1),  "the  event  was 
productive  of  emotions  of  sorrow;  for,  since  the  death  of  Wash- 
ington, no  man,  perhaps,  in  America  was  better  known,  more  sin- 
cerely beloved,  or  held  in  higher  admiration  and  esteem."  "Another 
of  our  friends  of  '76  is  gone,  another  of  the  co-signers  of  our  coun- 
try's independence,"  wrote  Jefferson  to  John  Adams,  "and  a  better 
man  than  Rush  could  not  have  left  us,  more  benevolent,  more 
learned,  of  finer  genius,  or  more  honest."  Posterity,  Rush  himself 
had  said,  "is  to  the  physician  what  the  day  of  judgment  is  to  the 
(1)    Life  of  Rush  iu  Delaplaine's  Repository,  by  Charles  Caldwell,  M.  D. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  137 

Christian,"  and  posterity  <;iiis  the  greal  apostle  of  "the  unity   of 
disease,"  the  Sydenham  <»r  America  (n). 

During  the  closing  decade  <»f  Rush's  life,  practically  the  first 
decade  of  the  new  century,  In-  w&b  an  elderly  man  in  the 
sixties,  while,  almosl  withoul  exception,  every  other  member  of 
the  faculty  of  the  University  was  about  twenty  years  liis  junior. 
Most- of  these  men  were  born  bel  ween  17<»1  and  '68.  Several  of  them 
survived  him  l>nt  for  a  short  time.  Woodhouse  died  four  years 
before  Rush;  Barton  followed  him  two  years  Later;  Wistar  only 
five  years  later;  James  survived  him  twenty-two  years,  and  Physick 
and  Dewees,  twenty-four  and  twenty-nine  years  respectively.  It 
was  a  decade  of  great  activity  and  power  in  the  development  of 
medical  science  in  Philadelphia;  nearly  every  branch  of  the  Bcience 
was  represented  by  strong  men,  who  would  have  appeared  even 
abler  had  they  not  been  so  closely  associated  with  the  towering 
figure  of  Rush,  to  whom  not  a  little  of  their  own  activity  was 
directly  or  indirectly  due.  Dr.  James  Woodhouse  mil,  one  of  his 
students,  did  excellent  work  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry  from  IT'.to  to 
his  death  in  1809,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  another  favorite 
student,  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Redman,  Dr.  John  Redman  Coxe, 
who  had  become  prominent  as  the  founder  of  medical  journal- 
ism in  Philadelphia,  five  years  before.  Dr.  Philip  Syng  Phys- 
ick, a  special  protege  of  the  doctor,  had  shown  such  originality  in 
the  field  of  surgery  that  Dr.  Rush  encouraged  him  in  his  purpose  to 
become  au  independent  lecturer  on  that  subject,  in  1800.  The 
students  of  the  University  flocked  to  these  lectures  in  such  numbers 


(u)  Barton  succeeded  Rush  as  president  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society. 
l>r.  Wistar  was  the  successor  of  Rush  iii  the  presidency  of  the  Society  for  the 
Abolition  of  Slavery. 

inn  Dr.  Woodhouse  was  a  native  Philadelphian,  born  in  1 77< » :  he  received  bis 
Arts  degree  at  the  University  in  iTsT.  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Rush  and  gradu- 
ated in  the  first  medical  class.  17PU.  after  the  reorganization.  He  had  medical 
service  iii  the  Indian  campaigns  of  Gen.  St.  Clair,  and  showed  such  greal  ability 
in  Chemistry  in  his  student  life  that  he  was  chosen  to  that  chair  over  the  eminent 
scientist,  Dr.  Adam  Soyhorl.  His  lectures  and  experiments  were  so  brilliant  as 
to  win  from  Priestley  the  high  praise  of  being  equal  to  any  in  Europe. 
lie  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  of  the  American  chemical  leader-  to  believe  in 
Phlogiston. 


138  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

that  in  1805  a  division  of  the  chair  which  embraced  the  subjects 
of  anatomy,  surgery  and  obstetrics  was  called  for. 

Shippen,  and  his  associate  Wistar,  had  heretofore  lectured  on 
these  subjects.  A  new  chair  of  Surgery  was  created,  to  which 
Physick  was  appointed,  winning  for  himself  the  title  of  "the  Father 
of  American  Surgery."  Shippen,  who  had  for  some  time  allowed 
more  and  more  of  his  duties  to  devolve  upon  his  adjunct,  since  the 
appointment  of  the  latter  in  1792,  was  replaced  by  Physick  in  1809. 
Upon  Physick's  assumption  of  the  chair,  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar  an- 
nounced his  desire  that  a  still  further  division  be  effected  by  the 
establishment  of  a  chair  of  Obstetrics.  This  he  secured  in  part  in 
1810,  but  not  until  the  year  Rush  died,  was  midwifery  fully  recog- 
nized as  a  distinct  branch  of  medicine,  when  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James- 
was  appointed  as  the  first  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  the  Univer- 
sity. To  Dr.  James,  therefore,  accrues  the  honor  of  giving  this 
most  important  science  its  proper  place  in  American  medicine. 
Associated  with  James  was  a  young  man,  Dr.  N.  Chapman  (o).  Upon 
the  death  of  Rush,  the  subjects  upon  which  he  had  lectured  were 
apportioned  among  several  chairs.  Dr.  Benj.  S.  Barton,  who  had 
followed  Griftitts  in  '96,  in  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica,  became 
Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  and  the  Institutes  of  Medicine. 
Born  in  1766  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  Barton  was  the  son  of  an 
Episcopalian  clergyman,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  Rittenhouse. 
Early  in  life  he  came  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Andrews,  later 
Provost  of  the  University,  and  in  1782  joined  his  brother  in  Phila- 
delphia and  began  study  in  the  college  and  under  Dr.  Shippen's 
direction.  His  artistic  and  botanical  tastes  had  shown  themselves 
in  boyhood,  and  in  1786  he  went  to  Edinburgh  for  additional  study. 
Here  he  won  the  Harveian  prize  from  the  Royal  Medical  Society 
for  a  botanical  thesis;  and  the  next  year,  while  in  London,  he  pub- 
lished his  "Observations  on  Some  Parts  of  Natural  History."  He 
became  the  friend  of  Lettsom,  Hunter  and  other  prominent  men. 
After  two  years  spent  in  Edinburgh  he  decided  to  take  his  degree 
from   the   University    of    Gottingen.     After    securing    it    he   re- 

(o)    Young  Chapman  succeeded  Barton  in  Materia  Medica. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  199 

turned  in  London,  and  his  reputation  l<«l  t"  his  election  to  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  before  he  returned  to  Philadel- 
phia. Hi'  was  mil  twenty-three,  in  L789,  when  William  Bartram's 
chair  of  Botany  was  merged  into  ;i  aew  chair  of  Natural  Historj 
and  Botany,  which  was  created  for  Barton.  1 [e  al  once  inspired  bis 
students  with  enthusiasm  for  the  science;  gave  new  interest  to 
Bartrani's  Garden,  founded  an  American  Linnean  Society,  of  which 
lie  was  president,  and  established  measures  for  the  cooperation  of 
students  <>f  natural  history  and  botany  in  various  parts  of  the 
country.  He  erected  the  firsl  greenhouse  in  the  <ity,  in  the  rear  «»f 
his  Chestnut  street  residence,  below  Eighth.  Tn  his  thirtieth  year, 
he  became  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  which  position  he  held 
until  the  death  of  Rush.  It  was  while  he  occupied  this  chair  thai 
he  became  still  more  widely  known  as  the  founder  of  a  semi-annual 
periodical,  "The  Philadelphia  Medical  and  Physical  Journal," 
(1804-1809),  the  second  journal  of  the  kind  in  the  city,  ami  devoted 
more  largely  to  botany  than  to  medicine.  It  was  thus  he  acquired 
the  title  of  "the  first  teacher  of  Natural  Science  in  this 
Atlantic  world."  lie  indeed  "created  a  taste  for  these  pursuits," 
says  Dr.  Carson,  "that,  has  never  been  lost  in  this  community, 
and  which  has  ultimately  developed  itself  in  permanent  estab- 
lishments tor  the  cultivation  of  the  Natural  Sciences."  He  was  the 
most  natural  successor  to  Rush  in  much  of  his  work  and  thus 
received  his  later  appointments.  These  he  was  enabled  to  till 
but  for  a  short  time,  when  ill-health  defeated  his  plans  and  closed 
his  life  December  10,  1815,  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of  forty- 
nine  years. 

Another  of  the  distinguished  pupils  of  Dr.  Rush,  who  prob- 
ably owed  his  inspiration  to  the  same  great  teacher,  was  Dr.  John 
Redman  Coxe,  a  unique  figure  among  the  medical  men  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  the  founder  of  medical  journalism.  Almost  twenty 
years  younger  t  han  Barton,  who  was  a  student  of  Shippen,  he  came 
under  the  influence  of  the  earlier  systems  taught,  and  was  s<. 
influenced  by  then  that,  as  he  was  long-lived  like  his  grandfather, 
he  became  the  most  notable  illustration  of  the  conservative  teach- 


140  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ings  of  an  older  time,  and  was,  therefore,  regarded  by  the  adher- 
ents of  a  more  modern  medicine  as  an  anachronism.  This,  how- 
ever, in  no  way  affected  the  good  he  did  as  the  inangurator  of 
medical  journalism  in  the  summer  of  1804,  when  so  much  activity 
was  in  progress.  Dr.  Coxe  Avas  thirty-one  years  of  age  when  he  con- 
ceived, the  idea  of  a  journal.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  born 
in  1773,  and  was  educated  in  Philadelphia  under  his  Grandfather 
Redman's  care.  "At  an  early  period  of  my  life,"  he  writes  in  1835, 
"I  went  to  England,  and  after  several  years  passed  in  the  public 
schools,  proceeded  to  Edinburgh,  in  my  sixteenth  year,  under  the 
direction  of  a  well-established  classical  teacher,  and  with  the 
intention  of  pursuing,  during  the  summer  months,  the  lectures  on 
Botany,  then  given  by  Dr.  Rutherford,  and  those  on  Natural  His- 
tory, by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Walker.  I  boarded  at  this  time  in  the  house 
of  a  surgeon  and  apothecary,  by  whom  I  was  induced,  thus  early, 
to  attend  the  hospital,  and  having  spent  nearly  fifteen  months  in 
Edinburgh,  returned  to  London  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1789, 
and  during  the  following  winter  I  attended  two  courses  of  anatomy 
and  one  of  chemistry  at  the  London  Hospital,  by  Mr.  Blizzard  and 
Dr.  Hamilton.  In  1790  I  left  England  for  the  purpose  of  more 
directly  studying  medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush,  with  whom  I  continued  until  I  obtained  my  degree  here,  in 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Doctor  in  Medicine,  in  1794. 
Having,  during  four  years'  apprenticeship,  attended  the  various 
lectures  then  delivered  by  Drs.  Shippen,  Kulm,  Rush,  Wistar, 
Hutchinson  and  Griffitts,  and  having  their  respective  signatures 
to  my  diploma,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  Dr.  Hutchinson,  who, 
it  is  well  known,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  active  exertions  during  the 
eventful  period  of  1793,  when  the  yellow  fever  spread  terror  and 
desolation  through  our  devoted  city."  Of  this  period  he  says  that, 
for  four  months,  "I  was  not  once  absent  from  my  post,  and  from 
the  immensity  of  applicants  for  Dr.  Rush's  aid,  he  was  obliged  to 
transfer  a  very  large  portion  to  his  students.  Seldom,  I  believe, 
had  I  less  than  thirty  to  fifty  a  day  to  visit  and  prescribe  for,  and 
when  necessary,  likewise  to  bleed.    Of  four  other  fellow-students, 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  141 

three  fell  viriims  to  their  unwearied  philanthropy,  ;in<l  the  other 
was  wiiliin  the  verge  of  existence  in  two  several  attacks.'9  "H< 
i  hen,  I  had  an  ample  field  of  experience,  n<»i  readily  to  be  forgot  ten, 
exclusive  <»f  that  which  I  mighl  !•«•  presumed  to  acquire  during 
these  years  attending  the  practice  of  the  hospital  physicians,  and 
also  of  a  number  of  pauper  patients  committed  to  my  charge  by 
1  >r.  Rush,  as  was  his  usual  custom,  a1  a  period  when  I  h<-  Dispensa  rj 
was  just  starting  into  full  existence,  and  had  no1  ye1  obstructed  the 
proportion  of  thai  class  of  patients  which  fell  1<»  th<-  care  of  every 
practitioner."  Dr.  Rush  presented  him  with  a  commentary  on  Boer- 
haave  for  "his  skill,  fortitude,  patience,  perseverance  anil  human- 
ity" in  thai  plague.  In  "04,  he  again  visited  London,  Edinburgh  and 
Paris,  and  studied  in  those  cities  until  '97,  when  he  returned  and 
began  practice  and  also  was  on  the  staff  of  the  hospitals  and  Dis- 
pensary. It  was  in  1801  that  he  introduced  vaccination  into 
Philadelphia,  by  the  successful  vaccination  of  himself  and  his 
son  (p).  lie  had  opened  a  drug  store  also,  and  late  in  the  summer 
of  1804,  actuated  by  the  success  of  the  New  York  Medical  Repository, 
then  seven  years  old,  ventured  upon  the  project  of  publishing  a 
quarterly  entitled  "The Medical  Museum"  with  a  section  called  the 
Medical  and  Philosophical  Register.  The  tirst  contribution  was 
Mitchell's  letter  on  the  yellow  fever  in  Virginia  in  1741-2.  and  the 
only  known  medical  record  of  Dr.  Kearsley,  Sr.,  contrasting  the 
epidemic  in  this  region  with  that  of  Philadelphia  <>f  the  same  date. 
Dr.  Rush  contributed  an  extended  accounl  of  this  disease  in  Balti- 
more in  17D4.  Other  writers  for  the  journal  were  I  Ms.  James 
Stuart,  J.  <\  Otto,  J.  K.  Coxe,  John  Rush,  Philip  s.  Physick,  \V. 
Baldwin,  T.  C.  James  and  Horsefield.  In  his  second  number,  <'..\o 
records  the  advent  of  Barton's  journal.  Unlike  the  literary  enter- 
prise of  the  latter,  the  .Museum  had  a  vigorous  existence  until  the 
dose  of  the  year  L811,  and  paved  the  way  for  similar  journals,  such 
as  the  "Repository,"  and  the  journals  founded  by  Chapman,  Hays 

(p)    Edward  Jenner  Coxe.  M.  D.,  was  born  in  1801,  and  received  bis  vaccina- 
tion  fourteen   (lays  after  his   birth.     His    father     himself     \>  a--    the    firsl    Successful 

case  of  vaccination,  November  9,  1801,  the  virus  having  been  sent  him  by  Presi- 
dent Jefferson. 


142  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

and  others.  In  1808  Dr.  Coxe  published  a  Medical  Directory;  he  also 
published  a  Dispensatory,  an  exposition  of  Hippocrates,  and  other 
works.  In  1809,  he  became  Professor  of  Chemistry,  and  in  1818,  of 
Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy;  the  latter  position  he  held  until  his 
sixty-second  year.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years,  in 
1864.  Dr.  Coxe  must  always  be  regarded  as  the  pioneer  of  medical 
journalism  in  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Thomas  C.  James,  the  "amiable,  gentle  and  accomplished 
gentleman,"  who  received  honors  as  the  first  Professor  of  Obstetrics, 
or  "Midwifery,"  as  it  was  then  called,  was  seven  years  older  than 
Coxe,  and  of  the  same  age  as  Barton,  whom  he  survived  twenty 
years.  He  was  named  for  his  grandfather,  Thomas  Chalkley,  a 
Quaker,  favorably  known  as  an  author.  Of  Quaker  parentage,  he 
was  born  in  Philadelphia  and  educated  under  the  historian,  Proud. 
He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Kuhn,  and  received  his  Doctor's 
degree  from  the  University  in  1787.  He  spent  about  a  year  on  the 
ocean,  in  1788,  as  surgeon  of  the  ship  Sampson,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
finish  his  education  abroad.  In  1790,  he  began  his  studies  in  Edin- 
burgh, London  and  on  the  Continent.  In  1793,  the  year  of  the  pesti- 
lence, he  returned  to  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  scholarly  man,  of 
poetic  talent,  was  active  in  nearly  all  the  philanthropic,  scientific 
and  literary  societies,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania.  He  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  first 
to  introduce  the  use  of  anthracite  coal  as  a  fuel.  He  had  given 
private  lectures  on  Midwifery,  with  Dr.  John  Church,  as  early  as 
1802,  and  with  such  success  that,  on  the  separation  of  that  subject 
from  Anatomy,  in  the  reorganization  of  the  work  of  the  University, 
he  was  chosen  to  the  new  chair  in  1810,  continuing  to  occupy  it  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century.  His  was  the  uneventful  life  of  a 
scholarly,  refined  and  sensitive  nature.  Dr.  William  P.  Dewees,  a 
young  man  of  ability,  acted  as  his  assistant  from  1824,  on  account 
of  his  increasing  age  and  infirmity.  Ten  years  later,  James  resigned, 
only  a  year  before  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1835.  His  name  will 
always  be  associated  with  the  elevation  of  Obstetrics  to  an  equality 
with  the  other  branches  of  medical  science,  and  the  opening  of 


[N    PHILADELPHIA.  148 

lying-in  wards  in  both  the  Philadelphia  and   Pennsylvania    Hos- 
pitals. 

The  most  notable  figure  of  the  active  group  of  workers  as 
ci;ii<'(i  with  Rush,  however,  were  Wistar  and  Physick,  the  former 
five  years  older  than  James,  and  the  Latter  two  years  younger;  the 
one  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  the  other  of  Surgery.  These  two 
men  and  James,  were  the  real  successors  of  Shippen.  Wistar  was 
fifty-two  when  Rush  died,  James  forty-seven  and  Physick  fifty- 
five.  The  strong  personalities  in  the  College  faculty  were  now  to 
be  found  in  the  Departments  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  rather 
than  in  Medicine.  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  like  James,  was  a  Friend, 
descended  from  the  strong  old  Palatine  German  stock  of  Hilsbach, 
near  Heidelberg.  His  mother's  family  were  of  English  descent 
and  came  to  America  in  the  time  of  Penn.  He  had  the  assertive- 
ness  of  the  English,  the  solidity  of  the  German  and  the  gentleness 
of  the  Friend.  His  greatness  arose  largely  from  his  popularizing 
methods  as  a  teacher,  as  well  as  from  his  investigations.  His  lec- 
tures were  abundantly  illustrated  and  thus  probably  rendered  his 
teaching  more  effective  than  that  of  any  of  his  predecessors.  Ili> 
models  and  original  anatomical  specimens  were  excellent  and  nu- 
merous. Some  of  them,  as  that  of  the  ethnoid  bone,  were  made  for 
the  first  time  by  himself.  These  specimens,  with  successive  addi- 
tions, formed  the  basis  of  the  well-known  Wistar  Museum  of  the 
University.  It  was  his  practice  to  hold  social  gatherings  at  his 
home  on  Saturday  evenings,  to  which  prominent  members  of  the 
profession  were  invited,  and  the  purpose  of  which  was  to  stimulate 
scientific  research.  These  meetings  are  still  continued,  being  per- 
petuated in  his  honor,  under  the  name  "Wistar  patties.*'  As  has 
been  said,  he  was  fifty-two  years  old  when  Rush  died,  for  he  was 
born  in  Philadelphia  on  September  13,  1761.  Educated  in  the 
Friends'  School,  he  became  known  as  a  classical  student  of  especial 
merit.  He  afterward  went  to  the  old  academy  or  college.  When 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  being  ;i  Friend  ami  opposed  to  war  because 
of  his  religious  convictions,  he  offered  his  set-vices  in  the  care  of  the 
wounded  at  the  battle  of  Germantown.     After  this  experience,  lie 


144  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

was  so  convinced  of  his  adaptation  to  medicine  that  he  chose  forth- 
with to  prepare  for  the  profession.  Entering  Dr.  Redman's  office,, 
he  studied  under  the  old  tutor  of  Bush  and  Morgan,  and  also  under 
the  celebrated  Dr.  John  Jones,  who  had  settled  in  the  city,  and 
who  became  so  interested  in  him  as  to  help  him  to  establish  himself 
in  practice  afterwards.  He  had  the  good,  or  bad,  fortune  to  have  his 
medical  collegiate  career  divided  between  the  medical  school  of  the 
College  and  that  of  the  University,  graduating  in  the  latter  as  Bach- 
elor of  Medicine  in  1782,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  His  examination 
offered  amusing  proof  that  the  faculty  were  divided  between  Boer- 
haave  and  Cullen,  and  that  Wistar,  having  mastered  both,  could  give 
the  views  of  either  one  or  the  other  as  he  instinctively  felt  them  to 
be  preferred  by  his  examiners.  In  1783,  he  spent  a  year  in  London 
and  then  went  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  at  once  became  a  prominent 
member  of  that  select  body,  the  Royal  Medical  Society,  and  was 
honored  with  its  highest  office  for  two  years.  He  held  a  similar 
position  in  a  society  for  the  study  of  Natural  History.  Graduating 
in  '86,  with  the  thesis  De  Animo  Demisso,  he  returned  to  Philadel- 
phia. He  joined  the  Dispensary  staff  the  next  year,  and,  in  1789, 
Avas  called  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  the  reorganized  College  of 
Philadelphia.  He  accepted  it  only  to  aid  in  uniting  the  schools.  In 
1792,  after  the  union,  he  became  assistant  to  Dr.  Shippen,  and  suc- 
ceeded him  seventeen  years  later.  For  thirteen  years  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1818,  he  gave  Anatomy  his  chief  atten- 
tion and  did  much  to  enlarge  its  boundaries.  In  1811,  following  the 
examples  of  his  confreres,  he  published  a  text-book  on  Anatomy. 
This  was  a  period  marked  by  the  production  of  the  first  text-books. 
Dr.  Wistar  became  so  eminent  in  his  scientific  and  classical  work 
that  he  was  made  vice-president  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  and  succeeded  Thomas  Jefferson  as  its  president  in  1815, 
holding  that  position  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Three  years  later 
Chief  Justice  Tilghman  said  of  him :  "Surely,  never  was  life  more 
earnestly  desired,  never  death  more  sincerely  regretted  than  that 
of  this  genial  and  generous  physician-teacher." 

The  year  1818  was  not  to  close  a  decade  of  such  losses  as  those 


iv  rim.  \i'i:i.i'iii.\.  I  j:> 

resulting  from  the  death  of  Shippen,  Woodhouse,  Rush,  Barton, 
Kiilin  ;mkI  Wistar,  without  another  victim  in  the  successor  of  Wis 
tar,  Dr.  John  Syng  Dorsey,  a  nephew  and  favorite  protege*  of  Dr. 
Physick.  Dorsej  was  onlj  thirty-five  when  1 1 « -  « 1  i « -  •  1  (in  November, 
L818),  and  ye1  he  was  so  brilliant  thai  he  became  an  assistant  to  Dr. 
Physick  two  years  after  tie-  chair  of  Surgery  was  created.  He 
succeeded  Barton  in  Materia  Medica  eight  years  later,  ;in<l  Wistar, 
still  later,  in  Anatomy.  Be  was  a  Philadelphia^,  born  in  L783,  and 
educated  in  the  Friends'  School.  ll<-  studied  medicine  under 
Physick,  from  L798,  his  fifteenth  year,  and  made  such  remarkable 
progress  that  his  course  in  the  medical  school  of  the  (Jniversitj 
dosed  in  1802,  w  hen  he  was  two  years  under  the  ago  required  for 
graduation.  Because  of  his  ability  the  trustees  were  induced  to 
suspend  their  rules  and  give  him  his  degree.  His  thesis  was  on 
"The  Powers  of  the  Gastric  Juice  as  a  Solvent  for  Urinary  Cal- 
culi." He  finished  his  preparation  for  Surgery  by  a  term  of  study  in 
Europe  in  1803-4.  His  literary  talent  showed  itself  by  the  produc- 
tion of  a  work  entitled  "Elements  of  Surgery." 

The  most  eminent  figure  at  the  dose  of  this  period,  after  the 
death  of  Rush,  was  "the  father  of  American  Surgery,"  Dr.  Philip 
Syng  Physick,  a  man  almost  the  exact  opposite  of  Wistar  in  most 
respects — always  afflicted  with  bodily  weakness  held  up  by  a  pow- 
erful will;  sensitive  and  retiring,  and  impatient  of  the  systems  so 
vigorously  advocated  by  his  great  friend,  Rush.  An  evidence  of 
his  sensitiveness  and  delicacy  is  afforded  by  the  following  incident 
in  his  history.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  was  taken  to  the  medical 
College  on  Fifth  Street,  opposite  Independence  Square,  to  see  an 
amputation  for  the  first  time.  He  almost  fainted,  and  plead  with 
his  father  to  permit  him  to  give  up  the  study  of  medicine.  He 
was  always  opposed  to  the  practice  of  vivisection,  and  expressed 
himself  strongly  against  ii.  ret  the  keen,  penetrating  intellect  of 
this  man  almost  created  the  science  and  art  of  Surgery  in  America. 
which  had  come  to  be  overshadowed  by  medicine.  As  an  operator 
he  was  so  distinguished  that,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  he  per- 
formed a  successful  lithotomy  on  the  aged  chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States,  John  Marshall.     Dr.  Physick's    father,    Edmund 

10 


146  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Physick,  was  agent  of  the  Perm  estate  and  had  his  country  seat 
about  seven  miles  up  the  Schuylkill  River.  When  Philip,  who  was 
born  in  1768,  came  to  Philadelphia  to  attend  the  Friends'  Academy, 
presided  over  by  Proud,  the  historian,  he  lived  in  the  family  of  the 
lady  who  afterward  became  the  wife  of  President  Madison.  He 
later  entered  the  University  and  graduated  in  1785,  with  no  espe- 
cial desire  to  study  medicine  other  than  his  wish  to  please  his 
father.  Beginning  his  medical  studies  in  1785  with  Dr.  Kuhn,  he 
spent  three  and  a  half  years  with  him,  attending  at  the  same  time 
the  lectures  of  the  medical  faculty.  He  went  to  London  in  1789 
and  lived  with  Dr.  John  Hunter.  While  there  he  showed  a  remark- 
able gift  in  original  research  and  experiment,  and  became  house 
surgeon  to  St.  George's  Hospital.  Dr.  Hunter  desired  him  to  settle 
in  London.  In  1791,  he  obtained  his  license  to  practice  from  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  but  the  same  year  he  went  to  Edin- 
burgh, and  was  so  able  as  to  obtain  a  degree  at  the  University 
after  but  one  year's  residence — the  first  American  student,  it  is 
said,  to  win  this  distinction.  His  thesis,  in  1792,  was  entitled  De 
Apoplewia.  In  September  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  began 
practice  at  the  age  of  twenty-five.  It  has  been  already  shown  how 
he  bore  the  trials  of  the  fearful  pestilence  in  1793,  when,  with  Leib, 
Annan  and  Cathrall,  he  helped  to  form  the  first  staff  of  Bush  Hill 
Hospital.  His  greatest  work  in  connection  with  this  hospital  was 
accomplished  in  '98  when  he  was  resident  physician.  He  did  royal 
service  in  all  those  years  of  epidemic,  as  has  been  testified  by  Bush 
and  many  others.  There  is  no  doubt  that  his  infirmities  were 
increased  by  his  exposures  to  disease  at  this  time.  In  '91  he  became 
surgeon  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
third  year  of  his  work  that  he  began  to  acquire  a  practice  of  any 
magnitude.  His  real  fame  dates  from  1800,  when,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two,  he  began  his  private  lectures.  After  the  delivery  of  the 
first  lecture,  Dr.  Rush  came  up,  offering  his  hand,  and  said:  "Doc- 
tor, that  will  do;  you  need  not  be  apprehensive  as  to  the  result  of 
your  lecturing.  I  am  sure  you  will  succeed."  The  secret  of  his 
power  seemed  to  be  merely  his  splendid  mastery  of  his  subject, 
for  otherwise  he  was  not  remarkable  either  as  a  speaker  or  writer. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  li; 

From  1805,  when  the  chair  of  Surgery  was  created  by  aim,  lie  was 

the  great  Philadelphia  surgeon  for  I  he  1 1 < ■  x i  i  hiri  \  \  ears.  The  many 
changes  aecessitated  by  death  in  the  faculty  of  the  University  dur- 
ing the  last,  thirteen  years  <>f  his  professorship  led  Dr.  Physick  to 
accept  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  at  the  time  of  Dorsey's  death.  Tin- 
loss  of  three  such  active  men  as  Wistar,  Rush  and  Dorsey  in  so 
short  a  time,  was  a  calamity  of  no  slighl  order,  and  necessitated 
some  sacrifice.  The  transference  of  Physick  from  t  he  chair  of  Sur- 
gery to  that  of  Anatomy  was  always  regarded  as  a  misfortune  for 
the  University,  as  Surgery  was  eminently  his  specially.  Jiis  ill- 
health  caused  him  to  resign  in  1831,  and  in  NdVember,  1837,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-nine,  his  life  closed.  His  career  was  at  its  zenith, 
no  doubt,  during  the  closing  years  of  the  life  of  Bush.  "What  a 
glorious  privilege  was  that  enjoyed  for  nearly  a  decennial  period  by 
the  students  who  attended  the  medical  lectures  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania!"  writes  Dr.  John  Bell.  "To  pass  from  the  amphi- 
theater of  the  great  teacher  of  Anatomy,  Dr.  Wistar,  to  that  of 
Physick,  the  Father  of  American  Surgery,  and  thence  go  and  hear 
the  prelections  of  Rush,  the  American  Hippocrates,  and  the  father 
of  American  medicine,  the  medical  philosopher,  the  philosophical 
philanthropist,  patient,  learned,  yet  ever  learning,  diligent  in 'col- 
lecting facts,  and  ready  when  the  opportune  moment  came  to 
expand  facts  into  principles;  whose  purity  of  life,  from  boyhood  to 
advanced  age,  was  the  practical  commentary  on  his  elevated  ethics, 
and  whose  pen  and  tongue  were  enlisted  in  the  advocacy  of  every 
theme  that  could  give  value  to  the  independence  of  his  country,  by 
improving  the  health,  cultivating  the  minds  and  preserving  the 
morals  of  its  people."'  It  was  at  this  time,  then,  that  Physick  won 
his  renown.  The  honors  that  came  thereafter  were  rather  rewards 
than  additions  to  his  fame.  ITe  was  president  of  the  Philadelphia 
Medical  Society  for  thirteen  years  before  his  death;  and  also  was 
connected  with  many  other  prominent  societies  in  Europe  and 
America.  His  best  energies,  however,  were  devoted  to  the  prac- 
tical work  of  his  profession. 

The  war  of  1812  did  not  affect  medical  science  in  Philadelphia 


US  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

to  any  great  degree  (q),  but  it  is  rather  remarkable  that  the  changes 
induced  in  the  faculty  of  the  University  by  the  deaths  of  so  many 
prominent  men  should  be  coincident  with  the  national  calamity. 
The  years  succeeding  the  death  of  Bush  constituted  a  period  of 
reorganization  in  the  medical  profession  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
process  was  attended  by  a  long  continued  struggle,  which  lasted 
many  years  and  centered  around  the  person  of  a  young  man  who 
organized  a  private  medical  school  in  1817,  called  the  "Philadelphia 
Medical  Institute."  This  school  attracted  a  large  number  of  young 
men.  Dr.  asTathaniel  Chapman  and  his  associates,  who  all  became 
members  of  the  University  faculty,  were  its  founders,  and  so  large 
was  the  work  that  it  must  have  suggested  the  possibility  of  more 
medical  colleges.  Certain  it  is  that  the  movement  seemed  to  stim- 
ulate a  desire  for  the  establishment  of  a  greater  number  of  insti- 
tutions for  medical  training. 

(q)    Dr.  William  E.  Horner.  Dr.  Jackson,  and  a  few  others,  served  in  the  war. 


CHAPTER   111. 

THE    ANTE    CIVIL    WAR     PERIOD.— 1825    T<  I     [8 

Despite  her  fatal  experience,  Philadelphia  Dearly  doubled  in 
population  during  the  lirst  two  decades  of  the  century,  allowing 

New  York  bu1  a  small  margin  of  advance.  In  L820,  the  city,  with 
her  113,000  inhabitants,  still  spread  along  tin-  Delaware  River, 
Tenth  and  Eleventh  streets  being  the  western  borderland,  beyond 
which  a  physician's  sign  was  rarely  to  l'«-  seen.  Although  some 
25,000  people  were  added  by  L825,  there  were  only  about  a  dozen 
more  doctors  than  thirty  years  before;  but,  besides  ih<-  physicians, 
sixty-nine  in  all,  ii  is  noteworthy  that  there  were  twenty-five  "Cup- 
pers and  Leechers"  (a),  the  largest  list  of  the  latter  given  at  the 
close  of  any  decade  before  or  since  (b).  Whatever  may  have  been 
tin-  reason,  whether  the  heavy  losses  among  physicians  during 
the  epidemics,  the  more  recent  losses  of  so  many  eminent  lead<  - 
or  other  causes  operating  to  bring  about  this  condition,  it  is  certain 
that  the  profession  in  the  few  years  before  ami  after  L825  was 
less  numerous  in  proportion  to  general  population  than  at  any 
other  time  in  the  history  of  the  city.  It  was  a  period  of  recon- 
struction ami  disaffection  of  various  sorts,  not  the  least  being  an 
awakening  resistance  to  the  old  systems.  It  was  a  period  of  transi- 
tion to  tin-  extreme  skepticism  that  foreshadowed  the  modern 
scientific  spirit,  and  one  of  restlessness  that  sought  to  work  out 
toward  new  conditions.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  most 
prominent  Leaders  were  Southern  men  from  Virginia  ami  the  Caro- 
linas.     A  new  generation  was  coming  to  tin-  front,  and  it  will  also 


(a)  Wilson's   Directory,   1823.    Then    n\.''    also  ion   mldvi       -     - 
muses  Miid  eighteen  dentists. 

(b)  'I'h. 'i-.'  were  but  sixteen  "cuppers  and  leechers"  in  iS<5i»  when  the  popula- 
tion was  nearly  five  times  larger, 

no 


150  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

be  of  interest  to  see  how  it  had  begun  the  modern  movement  from 
such  streets  as  Second,  Third  and  Fourth  to  lower  Mulberry,  Chest- 
nut, Walnut  and  Spruce.  Dr.  Physick  was  on  Fourth;  Drs.  Coxe, 
James  and  Chapman  were  in  the  "York  Building;"  Dr.  Samuel  P. 
Griffitts,  just  the  year  before  his  death,  was  on  Front  street;  Jonas 
Preston,  whose  name  is  given  to  Preston  Retreat,  was  on  Mulberry ; 
William  P.  Dewees,  James  Mease,  Thomas  T.  Hewson,  William  E. 
Horner,  J.  Rhea  Barton  and  James  Rush  were  all  on  Chestnut; 
Thomas  Parke,  now  grown  old,  was  on  Rittenhouse  place;  Isaac 
Hays,  J.  A.  Monges  and  Samuel  Colhoun  on  Sansom;  W.  P.  C. 
Barton  and  Joseph  G.  Nancrede  were  on  Tenth;  Samuel  Jackson, 
William  Darrach  and  Edwin  P.  Atlee  were  on  Seventh  street; 
William  Gibson  and  Benjamin  S.  Janney  were  on  Third;  Mulberry 
street  was  full  of  a  notable  class:  Samuel  Emlen,  Henry  Bond, 
George  B.  Wood,  Joseph  Hartshorne,  Charles  D.  Meigs,  Samuel  G. 
Morton,  Joseph  Parrish  and  John  C.  Otto;  Pine  street  had  Franklin 
Bache;  on  Walnut  was  Hugh  L.  Hodge;  on  Fourth  was  George 
McClellan,  John  Bell  and  William  Rush;  on  Spencer  street  were 
Jacob  Randolph,  H.  Neill,  William  B.  Duffleld  and  Alfred  Drake; 
John  K.  Mitchell  was  on  Fifth,  also  Elijah  Griffiths,  David  F. 
Condie  and  Gouverneur  Emerson;  Benjamin  H.  Coates  was  on  Front 
street,  also  J.  Cooper,  and  Benjamin  Rush  Rhees;  Anthony  Benezet 
was  on  Shippen  street;  William  Aitken  on  Ninth;  John  Allen  on 
Fourth;  John  Eberle  on  Eighth;  Lewis  C.  Gebherd  on  Sassafras; 
Caspar  C.  Gwyer  at  the  Almshouse;  Thomas  Harris  on  Shippen 
street  (c);  Charles  Lukeus  on  Mulberry;  Robert  Abbott  on  Walnut; 
George  T.  Alberti  on  Fifth;  M.  Anderson  on  Pine;  E.  P.  Atlee,  Jr., 
on  Vine;  A.  Baines  on  Beach;  John  Banks  on  Vine;  G.  H.  Burgin 
on  Chestnut;  F.  S.  Beattie  on  Mulberry;  D.  Blenou  at  "Hamilton 
Village;"  David  Berton  on  Front  street;  J.  R.  Burden  on  Third; 
W.  D.  Brinckle  on  Vine;  W.  Burns  on  High  (Market);  J.  F.  Brooke 
on  Fourth;  W.  C.  Brewster  on  Fifth;  J.  Bullock  on  Mulberry;  T. 
Coxe  on  Eighth;  H.  V.  Carter  on  Fifth;  T.  Connell  on  Mulberry; 
W.  Cheeks  on  Locust;  J.  Y.  Clarke  on  Mulberry;  J.  Cornwell  on 
Church  alley;  G.  Colhoun  on  Front;  Thomas  Dunn  on  Vine;  Ben- 

(c)    Samuel  Harris  lived  in  Camden. 


!\   PHILADELPHIA.  15] 

jamiu  Ellis  on  Ninth)  B.  .M.  Fox  on  Sansom;  8.  Freedly  <>n  Second; 
I).  Gallaher  on  Fifth;  John  Garrison  on  Beach;  w.  II.  Geyer,  G. 
Gillaspey  on  Eighth;  John  Goodman  on  Tenth;  J.  Green  on  Wal- 
nut; A.  L.  ( l-regorj  at  Frankford;  8.  J.  Griffiths  on  Callowhill  street; 
K.  E.  Griffiths  on  Front,  Thomas  Hall  on  Eleventh;  Richard  Har- 
lan on  Third ;  J.  C.  Heberton  on  Fifth;  W.  8.  Helmuth  on  Seventh; 
I.  Heylin  on  Vine;  John  Hopkinson  on  Chestnut;  Abraham  1  rowel  1 
on  Eighth;  8.  L.  Howell  on  Fifth;  Gideon  Humphrey  on  Fifth; 
J  I.  Huquenelle  on  Filberl ;  Roberl  Huston  on  Vine;  John  Jones  on 
Third;  J.  Jeanes  on  Front;  J.  H.  Karsten  on  Eleventh;  James 
Kitchen,  Jr.,  on  Spruce;  John  Hehlme  on  Fourth;  Harvey  and 
Joseph  Klapp  on  second;  Alex.  Knight  on  Front;  J.  F.  D.  Lobstein 
on  Spruce;  J.  McCulley  in  Emlen's  Court;  Joseph  Matthieu  on 
Walnut  street;  J.  Maurcu  on  Lawrence;  Peter  Miller  on  Mulberry; 
Roberl  Milnor  on  High  (Market);  William  Mil  nor  on  Second;  James 
Mitchell  on  Prune;  John  Moore  on  Seventh;  Wilson  Moore  on 
Spruce;  Nicholas  Nancrede  on  Powell;  Philip  Pylz,  Jr.,  on  Cedar; 
John  Perkins  on  Fifth;  Manuel  Phillips  on  Fourth;  W.  C.  Poole 
on  Ninth;  John  Porter  on  Sixth;  R.  Povall  on  Ninth;  H.  M.  loud 
on  Chestnut;  T.  Redman  on  Chestnut;  I.  Remington  on  Sixth;  T. 
Ritchie  on  Front;  C.  Kohr  on  Third;  J.  Eose  on  Callowhill;  Joint 
Rousseau  on  Pine;  J.  Ruan  on  Walnut;  W.  Rumsey  on  Third;  IT. 
Sansbury  <>n  Front;  Thomas  Sargent  on  Sassafras;  George  Schoti 
on  Seventh;  J.  S.  Sharpless  on  Fourth;  W.  Shaw  on  Mulberry;  T. 
Shrivers  on  Ninth;  Nathan  Shoemaker  on  Chestnut;  1).  ( '.  Skerret 
on  Tenth;  James  and  F.  Snow  on  Sassafras;  I.  C.  Snowden  on 
Walnut;  R.  Stevenson  on  Eleventh;  J.  Stewart  on  Eighth;  J.  Swan 
on  Front;  J.  C.  Thomas  on  Sassafras;  J.  L.  Thomas  on  Second; 
Erasmus  Thomas  on  Sixth;  Gerard  Trool  on  Fourth;  A.  B.  Tucker 
on  Fourth;  II.  M.  and  Samuel  Tucker  on  Mulberry;  J.  A.  Thackara 
on  Spruce;  J.  Thomson  in  Thomson's  Court;  George  and  John 
rider  on  Front;  A.  Vantroy  on  Spruce;  J.  Van  Zyle  <>u  Plum: 
J.F.  Ward  on  Eighth;  G.  Watson  on  High  i  Market):  and  -I.  Webster 
on  Eighth  street.  This  embraced  the  entire  list  of  Philadelphia 
physicians  in  active  practice1,  with  probably  few  exceptions,  and 
is  the  last  list  small  enough  to  he  given  in  full.     The  general  tend- 


152  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ency  of  location  is  apparent,  as  also  the  tendency  to  groups  among 
the  older  and  yonnger  leaders  of  the  profession.  Scarcely  more 
than  a  half  dozen  of  these  men  were  above  fifty-five  years  of  age; 
these  were  Griffitts,  Physick,  Preston,  James,  Dewees,  Parke  and 
Monges,  and  Physick  and  Dewees  were  only  fifty-seven.  Many  of 
the  names  better  and  more  widely  known  to  history,  like  Bache. 
Horner,  McClellan,  Wood,  Mitchell  and  others,  were  those  of  men 
scarcely  thirty  years  old,  and  the  men  who  ranged  near  fifty  were 
Mease,  Caldwell,  Hewson,  Hartshorne,  Parrish,  Chapman,  Coxe, 
Otto  and  Hare.  Gibson,  Jackson,  W.  P.  C.  Barton,  Bond  and  Meigs 
were  a  medium  between  the  two  latter  classes.  The  University 
faculty  embraced  Chapman,  in  the  chair  of  Practice,  with,  two  years 
later,  Samuel  Jackson  as  his  assistant  for  the  Institutes;  Gibson  in 
the  chair  of  Surgery;  Physick,  who  was  in  ill  health,  and  his  ad- 
junct, Horner,  in  that  of  Anatomy;  James  and  his  adjunct,  Dewees, 
both  men  of  uncertain  health,  in  the  chair  of  Midwifery;  Hare,  the 
inventor  of  the  oxy-hydrogen  blowpipe,  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry; 
Coxe  in  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica,  and  W.  P.  C.  Barton  in  that  of 
Botany.  The  repeated  changes  had  excited  a  spirit  of  disaffection 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  University  had  strong  men  in  some 
of  its  chairs,  and  that  it  had  over  twice  as  many  students  as  any 
other  school  in  the  land.  During  the  year  it  had  480  enrolled,  out 
of  1,970  (d)  medical  students  in  the  entire  fifteen  medical  colleges 
of  the  United  States.  The  only  ones  that  approached  it  were 
Transylvania  University  with  235,  the  University  of  Maryland  with 
215,  and  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Xew  York 
with  196  students.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  this  very  aggrega- 
tion of  medical  students  in  one  school  in  a  growing  city  was  itself 
an  impetus  to  larger  facilities.  The  causes  were  numerous;  it 
only  required  some  slight  events  to  set  them  in  motion,  and  these 
were  brought  about  as  follows: 

Every  eminent  practitioner  had  had  his  private  pupils  since 
the  time  of  Griffith  Owen,  and  many  had  given  private  and  public 
lectures  even  after  the  University  Medical  School  was  founded,  but 

(d)  These  statistics  were  collected  from  professors  in  the  various  institutions 
and  used  by  Thomas  Sewall  at  his  opening  address  at  Columbian  College,  D.  C.r 
March  30,  1825. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  153 

it  w;is  reserved  for  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chapman,  i  h«*  popular  and  m;i l: 
oetic  young  Virginian,  who  entered  the  faculty,  to  conceive  th<- 
plan  of  giving  his  private  pupils  more  rounded  and  proportional 
advantages  than  he,  alone,  could  u i \ <•.  by  associating  with  him 
fellow  preceptors  ;is  semi-specialists  in  other  departments.  Il«- 
began  this  with  Dr.  I Corner,  ns  anatomist,  in  L817,  in  tin-  rear  of 
liis  Ik  disc,  which  was  on  the  south  side  of  Walnut  street,  the  second 
door  below  Eighth  street.     The  room  used  \v;is  the  second   floor 

Of  his  stable,   1  mi t    from    these   small    beginnings    their    sown    arose 

an  organization  known  ;is  "The  Medical  Institute/*  of  which,  ten 
years  later,  it  could  be  said  it  had  "reached  to  the  condition  of  a 
systematic  and  popular  course  of  instruction,"  extending  practi- 
cally over  the  whole  year,  and  registering  over  a  hundred  students 
for  several  years  past.  The  third  year  Dr.  I  >ewees  joined  it,  as  obstet- 
rician, and  soon  alter,  Drs.  Efodge,  Bell,  Samuel  Jackson,  J.  K. 
Mitchell,  and,  for  a  time,  T.  P.  Harris.  It  grew  so  rapidly  thai  anally 
a  charter  was  secured  and  a  building  erected  on  Second  street, 
below  Twelfth,  with  three  spacious  lecture  rooms,  that  became  the 
home  of  a  new  college  twenty  years  later  (e).  The  tirsl  of  the  two 
terms  of  the  Institute  was  devoted  chiefly  to  lectures,  the  second 
to  examination,  out  of  which  the  famous  "Qui/"  probably  had  its 
development.  This  extra-mural  course  prompted  many  others,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that,  supplementary  as  it  was  intended  to  be. 
it  served  as  training  ground  for  both  students  and  professors  with 
a  degree  of  freedom  that  would  not  be  advisable  in  a  university. 
Here  Dr.  Chapman's  peculiar  power  was  manifested  probably 
<  ven  more  than  in  the  University,  for  he  was  a  man  of  great  per- 
sonal fascination,  famous  for  his  wit  ami  humor,  as  well  as  ability. 
He  was  the  Xestor  of  almost  the  entire  period  down  to  the  civil 
war,  and,  after  Physick,  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  American 
profession.  The  leader  of  thai  considerable  body  of  Southern  men 
such  as  Horner,  Mitchell,  Hartshorne,  Caldwell.  .Meigs.  Mutter  aid 
ot  hers,  his  ancestors  were  relatives  of  sir  Walter  Raleigh,  through 
whom  a  captain  of  British  cavalry,  the  first  founder  of  the  family. 
received  the  ancestral  estate  about  tweni\  miles  above  Richmond. 


i"i    Franklin  Medical  Collpge. 


154  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Although  the  branch  to  which  Dr.  Chapman  belonged  is  in  Mary- 
land, opposite  Mt.  Vernon,  his  father's  estate  was  in  Fairfax  County 
on  the  Potomac,  where  Xathaniel  was  born  May  28,  1780;  .so  that 
he  was  thirty-seven  years  old  when  the  germ  of  the  Medical  Insti- 
tution came  into  existence.  In  due  time  he  was  placed  at  the 
classical  school,  founded  by  General  Washington  at  Alexandria, 
where  he  met  another  Virginian,  Joseph  Hartshorne.  Six  years 
there,  and  some  time  in  two  other  colleges,  completed  his  literary 
course,  but  he  had  been  at  work  in  medicine  under  Drs.  Weeins  of 
Georgetown  and  Dick  of  Alexandria  so  successfully  that,  in  1797, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  started  for  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  the  private  tutelage  of  Dr.  Rush,  who  perceived  his  great 
powers  at  an  early  period,  and  undoubtedly  favored  his  aspirations 
to  a  position  in  the  faculty.  Graduating  in  1800  with  a  thesis  on 
Hydrophobia,  suggested  by  Rush,  although  he  had  previously  pre- 
pared one  on  the  sympathetic  connection  of  the  stomach  with  the 
rest  of  the  body,  which  Avas  characteristic  and  afterwards  read 
before  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society,  Dr.  Chapman  then  went 
to  Europe  and  remained  three  years.  He  spent  a  year  under  Aber- 
nethy  of  London,  who  insisted  so  strongly  upon  the  stomach  and 
T>owels  as  the  seats  of  disease,  that  Chapman  never  after 
departed  much  from  that  line  of  medical  theory.  In  1801 
he  went  to  Edinburgh,  where  for  two  years  he  breathed  the  atmos- 
phere of  Cullen  and  his  confreres,  so  that,  to  quote  another,  lie 
was  ever  after  "a  most  uncompromising  vitalist  and  solidist"  (f). 
Here,  too,  his  personality  won  for  him  such  friends  as  Brougham, 
Dugald  Stewart  and  Lord  Buchan,  the  last  mentioned  of  whom 
gave  him  a  public  breakfast  on  his  departure  for  Philadelphia  in 
1804;  for  he  had  already  become  something  of  a  man  of  letters, 
and  had  even  been  a  favorite  contributor  to  The  Portfolio  under 
Dennie.  His  practice  was  remarkably  successful  from  the  first  and 
his  personality  was  equally  forceful  in  this  field.  He  soon  gave 
a  private  course  of  Lectures  on  Obstetrics,  which  were  so  success- 
ful that  in  1807  Dr.  James  sought  his  aid  in  the  same  field,  in 
which  he  continued  until  the  death  of  Rush  six  years  later.     He 

(f)    Dr.   Samuel  Jackson. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  155 

then  took  Hi«'  chair  of  .Materia  ftfedica,  and,  in  L816,  three  years 
later,  al  the  age  of  thirty-six,  succeeded  tothechiel  departmenl  of 
the  chair  of  Rush  himself,  thai  of  Practice  (g).  It  was  the  aext 
year  thai  he  began  the  original  of  the  Institute,  in  whicL  he  lec- 
tured for  aboul  twentj  years.  While  in  the  University  his  career 
was  much  extended  by  his  founding  a  new  medical  perodical  in 
November,  L820,  four  years  alter  his  election  to  the  chair  of  Prac- 
tice. This,  the  lirst  permanenl  periodical,  entitled  Th>  Philadel- 
phia Journal  of  II"  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  still  exists 
under  the  came,  Tin  Imeriean  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences. 
Wars  later  it  absorbed  t  wo  <»t  her  journals,  and  developed  into  om- 
ul" the  greatesl  medical  periodicals  of  the  land,  as  it  is  the  oldest. 
His  hook  on  Therapeutics  was  a  -teat,  work  in  its  day,  and  liis  besl 
known,  although  his  other  writings  were  oumerous.  11«-  was  long 
president  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society,  and  was,  by 
acclamation,  chosen  Mist  president  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society,  in  1853.  The  basis  of  his  medical  theory 
was  sympathy,  and  he  turned  away  from  Hush's  unity  of  disease 
and  restored  the  older  classification,  modified  by  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  the  times;  but  his  power  was  most  characeristic  as  a 
lecturer,  where  he  is  described  by  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson,  his  adjunct, 
"as  self-possessed,  deliberate  and  emphatic.  Whenever  warmed 
with  his  subject,  his  animation  became  oratorical.  often  the 
tedium  of  dry  matter  would  be  enlivened  by  seme  stroke  of  wit, 
a  happy  pun.  an  anecdote  or  quotation.  He  was  furnished  with 
stores  of  facts  and  cases,  drawn  from  his  own  large  experience 
and  observation,  illustrating  principles,  disease,  or  t  teat  men  i  under 
discussion.  His  bearing  was  dignified,  his  manner  was  easy,  and 
his  gestures  were  graceful,  lie  had  a  thorough  command  over  the 
attention    of    his    class,    with    whom    he    always    possessed    an 

(g)  His  rival  to  this  chair  was  Dr.  Charles  <.  aldweli,  a  North  Carolinian,  born 
ii,  1772,  of  North  of  Ireland  parentage.  He  was  of  an  intense  and  ambitious 
nature,  educated  himself  through  great  difficulties,  began  the  study  of  medicine 
in  1791,  and  in  1795  finished  his  course  in  the  University  medical  school,  lie  was 
among  the  greatest  controversialists  of  the  day.  He  delivered  clinical  lectures  at 
tho  Almshouse  Hospital  as  early  as  1807  and  lectures  on  medical  jurisprudence  in 
1810;  said  to  be  among  the  lirst  on  that  subject  in  1815  he  became  professor  of 
Geology  in  the  University,  and  in  1819  left  Philadelphia  for  the  Chair  of  Medicine 
in  Transylvania  University   u  Lexington,  Ky.    He  died  in  18E 


156  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

unbounded  popularity.  His  voice  had  a  peculiar  intonation,, 
depending  on  some  defect  in  the  conformation  of  the  palate,  that 
rendered  the  articulation  of  certain  sounds  an  effort.  The  first 
time  he  was  heard,  the  ear  experienced  difficulty  in  distinguishing 
his  words.  This  was  of  short  duration;  for,  once  accustomed  to 
the  tone,  his  enunciation  was  remarkable  for  its  distinctness. 
Students  would  often  take  notes  of  his  lectures  verbatim."  Such 
were  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the  successor  of  Rush,  who 
founded  the  Medical  Institute  in  1817. 

The  next  year,  1818,  another  private  lecturer,  Dr.  Joseph  Par- 
rish,  after  several  years  of  successful  teaching,  found  himself  with 
thirty  or  more  students,  an  increase  which  rendered  it  necessary 
to  engage  the  young  practitioner,  Dr.  George  B.  Wood,  to  assist 
him.  Thus,  writes  that  assistant  over  thirty  years. later,  he  "may 
be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  founders  of  that  combined  and  more 
thorough  scheme  of  private  medical  tuition,  which  constitutes  a 
distinguishing  professional  feature  of  our  city  and  our  times."  Dr. 
Joseph  Parrish,  born  in  1779,  was  of  an  Anglicized  Dutch  lineage, 
his  great-grandfather  having  the  estate  which  a  part  of  Baltimore 
now  covers.  His  father,  Dr.  Isaac  Parrish,  settling  in  Philadelphia 
as  a  boy,  became  one  of  those  gentle  Quaker  physicians,  like  his 
friend  and  his  son's  friend,  Dr.  Griffitts.  Dr.  Joseph  Parrish  fol- 
lowed the  advice  of  Dr.  Griffitts  in  seeking  Dr.  Wistar  as  his  pre- 
ceptor, and  he  graduated  from  the  University  in  1805.  He  was 
a  favorite  member  of  the  staffs  of  the  Dispensary,  the  City  Hospi- 
tal, the  Almshouse  Hospital,  and  the  Penns3dvania,  succeeding 
Dr.  Physick  in  the  last.  His  success  in  the  typhus  epidemic  that 
took  off  Dr.  Bush  was  notable.  He  succeeded  Rush,  Wistar  and 
Franklin  in  the  presidency  of  the  Abolition  Society.  Dr.  Wistar 
once  said  he  "had  the  ambition  of  a  Bonaparte  and  the  benevolence 
of  a  Howard."  He  could  have  had  a  professorship  for  the  asking, 
but  he  made  to  such  overtures  the  significant  reply:  "My  bark  was 
made  for  quiet  waters."  He  died  in  1840  at  the  age  of  sixty-one. 
Meanwhile,  his  private  school  had  risen  and  almost  died  with 
him.  For  the  first  twelve  years  it  developed  by  adding  two  more 
assistants,  Drs.  Richard  Harlan  and  Nathan  Shoemaker,  but  in 


i\  run.  \]»i:i.rin  a  i.-,; 

is"><»  'in  ii  was  further  developed  into  ih<-  "Philadelphia  Associa- 
tion for  Medical  instruction,*'  with  a  faculty  composed  of  I  >rs.  Par- 
rish,  Wood,  s.  (i.  Morton,  J.  R.  Barton  and  Bache,  to  whom  w< 
afterward  added  Jacob  Randolph,  W.  W.  Gerhard,  Joseph  Pan- 
coasl  and  William  Rush;  this  flourished  for  aboul  six  fears  and 
then  gradually  declined,  though  in  L818,  when  Dr.  Parrisfa  began 
his  instruction  near  the  rear  of  Chrisl  Church,  the  school  was  about 
as  large  as  thai  of  Dr.  Chapman,  uear  Walnut  and  Eighth  streets. 
Two  years  later,  in  1820,  Dr.  Jason  V.  O.  Lawrance  began  the 
most  permanent  of  these  private  institutions.  It  was  situated  al 
the  upper  end  of  Chanl  street  (then  called  College  avenue),  on  the 
North  Bide,  and  occupied  the  eastern  of  the  two  apartments  which, 
under  the  uame  of  The  Philadelphia  Anatomical  Rooms,  were  des- 
tined to  become  to  this  city  what  the  famous  Windmill  Street 
School  of  Hunter  was  to  London  (i).  Lawrance  was  an  original, 
scholarly  lecturer,  of  striking  qualities,  that  soon  tin  L822)  led 
to  his  becoming  assistant  to  both  the  chairs  of  Anatomy  and  Sur- 
gery in  the  University;  indeed,  his  lecture  rooms  were  really 
intended  as  a  summer  school  to  cover  the  University's  long  vacation 
from  April  to  November.  He  was  a  Southern  man,  native  of  New 
Orleans,  born  in  1791,  and  graduated  from  the  University  in  1815, 
so  that  he  was  twenty-nine  years  old  when  he  opened  his  school 
in  1820.  lie  lived  only  three  years  longer,  however,  as  his  career 
was  cut  short  by  the  typhus  epidemic  of  1823.  Before  he  died,  his 
keen  spirit  of  investigation  led  to  his  becoming  one  of  a  committee 
— Drs.  Harlan  and  Coates  being  the  others — of  the  Academy  of 
Medicine  i.jl.  suggested  by  Dr.  Chapman  to  determine  whether  the 
newly  discovered  absorbent  vessels  were  the  exclusive  absorbents 
or  not.     He  was  investigating  absorption  by  the  brain    when  his 

(h)  About  the  same  time  J >r.  William  Gibson  headed  another  association  called 
the  "School  of  Medicine,"  which  included  among  its  lecturers  Drs.  Jacob  Randolph. 
Benjamin  II.  Coates,  Rene  La  Roche,  John  Hopklnson,  and  Charles  1».  Meigs.  It 
was  of  the  same  character  and  had  a  career  similar  to  the  "Association." 

(i)  History  of  the  Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy,  by  Dr.  W.  W.  Keen,  1875. 
This  school  lasted  lit'ty-tive  years,  while  the  London  institution  lived  sixty-three. 
Dr.  Parrish  gave  the  firsl  account  of  this  work  in  an  Introductory  lecture  in  1S.">7. 

(j)  The  Academy  of  Medicine  was  not  the  old  society  o\'  Rush's  foundation.  It 
was  founded  in  1821  with  a  view  to  discussion  of  the  great  changes  then  taking 
place  and  "for  the  improvement  of  the  science  of  medicine." 


158  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

death  occurred,  and  his  school  went  into  the  hands  of  another 
Southern  man,  Dr.  John  D.  Goodman  (k),  who  retired  from  practice 
and  devoted  himself  to  teaching  with  such  ability  that,  in  the  fol- 
lowing winter,  1823-24,  he  had  seventy  students.  He  soon  added 
a  library  and  reading  room,  and  was  joined  by  Drs.  E.  E.  Griffiths 
and  Isaac  Hays;  but  on  his  departure  in  1826  to  New  York  the 
school  was  transferred  to  Dr.  James  Webster,  who  retained  it  four 
years  untilhe,  too,  was  called  to  a  professor's  chair  (1).  In  1841 
the  institution  took  the  name  Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy, 
and  continued  a  famous  training  ground  for  professional  chairs 
down  to  1875. 

In  1822,  two  years  after  Lawrance  began,  another  private 
anatomical  room  was  opened  by  Dr.  Hewson  over  his  stable  on 

(k)  Dr.  Goodman  was  born  in  3794  in  Annapolis,  and  was  graduated  in  the 
University  of  Maryland  in  1821.  He  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Anatomy  in  Rutgers 
Medical  College,  New  York,  in  1826.  He  did  much  to  improve  the  professional 
feeling  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia.    He  died  in  1S30. 

(1)  Dr.  Joseph  Pancoast  reopened  the  rooms  in  1831,  and  on  his  going  to  a  chair 
in  Jefferson  eight  years  later,  he  was  succeeded  by  Drs.  J.  Dunott  and  J.  M.  Allen 
as  associate.  In  1839  the  west  room  was  secured  by  Dr.  James  McClinlock  for 
his  "Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy,"  which  had  been  founded  the  year  before 
at  the  southeast  corner  of  Walnut  and  Eighth  streets,  but  was  compelled  to  move. 
In  1841  he  was  called  to  a  professor's  chair,  and  the  whole  building  was  united 
under  the  name  of  his  school.  Among  other  instructors  since  have  boen  Drs. 
William  R.  Grant,  D.  Hases  Agnew,  James  A.  Garretson,  James  P.  Andrews,  R.  S. 
Sutton,  W.  W.  Keen  (who  lectured  the  longest  period  of  all),  Dr.  Richardson,  Dr. 
H.  Lenox  Hodge,  and  a  few  others.  Across  the  street  from  this  school  was  one 
conducted  by  Dr.  William  S.  Forbes,  opened  in  1856.  "The  Summer  Association," 
which  succeeded  to  the  Parrish  Association  in  1842,  began  in  the  eastern  building 
of  the  School  of  Anatomy  with  F.  J.  Meigs,  J.  M.  Wallace,  Robert  Bridges, 
Francis  Gurney  Smith,  and  Joshua  M.  Allen.  This  school  lasted  until  1860,  and 
also  gave  a  new  training  ground  for  professors'  chairs.  Here  lectured  Drs.  D.  H. 
Tucker,  W.  Y.  Keating,  J.  H.  B.  McClellan,  A.  Hewson,  John  H.  Brinton,  Ellerslie 
Wallace,  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  Alfred  Stiile,  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  Francis  West,  James 
Darrach,  Edward  Hartshorne  and  others.  In  1855  another  association  was  formed 
called  "The  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Medicine,"  whose  lecturers  were  Drs.  W.  W. 
Gerhard,  Henry  H.  Smith,  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  Bernard  Henry.  R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  Mr. 
Edward  Parrish  and  Dr.  Edward  Shippen.  Two  years  later,  Gerhard,  Agnew, 
Penrose  and  Parrish  began  a  quiz  association.  This  was  also  good  training 
ground  for  professors.  Among  others  who  experimented,  lectured  or  quizzed 
in  .these  various  associations  may  be  mentioned  Drs.  S.  W.  Gross.  J.  B.  Brinton, 
Isaac  Ott,  H.  C.  Wood,  Jr.,  Harrison  Allen.  F.  H.  Getchell,  W.  F.  Jenks.  James 
Tyson,  J.  E.  Mears,  J.  S.  Parry,  O.  P.  Rex.  O.  H.  Allis.  Stanley  Smith,  H.  Osgood. 
W.  G.  Porter,  G.  C.  Harlan,  George  Strawbridge.  W.  W.  McClure,  J.  Solis  Cohen. 
E.  G.  Davis.  Witmer,  Duer.  Dunglison.  Maury,  Warder,  McArthur.  Leaman. 
Hutchins.  Leffman,  Laughlin,  Wilson.  West,  Greene.  Wilhird.  Curtin,  Cheston,  and 
Githens. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

Library  sii-eet,  next  the  Custom  House,  :iiitl  sewn  \earg  later  iii 
Blackberry  alley,  in  the  rear  of  his  residence,  on  Walnut  Btreet, 
above  Ninth,     lie  was  a  son  of  the  celebrated  London  anatomist, 

William  llcwson,  whose  widow  came  to  America  througb  the 
friendship  of  Franklin  in    L786,  and  educated    her  son,  Thomas  T. 

llcwson,  in  his  father's  profession.  I>r.  T.  T.  Bewson  studied  under 
Dr.  .John  Foulke,  and  enjoyed  advantages  of  the  highesj  charactei 
in  Philadelphia  and  abroad.     Be  Bettled  in  practice  in  L806,  and 

became  especially  known  for  his  successful  work  as  physician  to 
the  Walnut  Street  IM-ison,  the  IViockley  Hospital,  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  and  other  institutions.  He  was  also  the  chief  represent- 
ative of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  the  format  ion  of  the  National 
Pharinaropo-ia  and  the  success  of  its  final  publication  was  largely 
due  to  him.  He  was  president  of  the  College  of  Physicians  for 
twelve  years,  until  his  death  in  1848.  He  was  elected  to  the  chair 
of  Comparative  Anatomy  in  1S1G,  and  it  was  six  years  later  that 
he  opened  his  anatomical  rooms  with  Drs.  Harris,  Meigs  and  Bache 
as  associates  (in). 

About  the  same  time,  though  a  little  earlier,  in  1821,  another 
lecture  course  was  opened,  which  was  destined  to  produce  more 
momentous  results  than  any  of  the  others.  This  was  begun,  in 
a  lecture  room  fitted  up  in  connection  with  his  office  at  the  corner 
of  Walnut  and  Swanwick  streets,  for  the  benefit  of  his  private 
students,  by  a  young  physician  of  twenty-four  years,  full  of  the 
inspiration  of  his  preceptors,  Dorsey  and  Physick,  and  of  a  suffi- 
ciently original  genius  to  stand  out  in  striking  relief  against  the 
dominant  Southern  (dement  of  the  University.  This  was  Dr. 
George  McClellan,  of  whom,  says  his  biographer  (n),  "Phy- 
sick and  Dorsey  both  predicted  the  future  eminence."  McClel- 
lan came  of  a  Highland-Scotch  and  English  ancestry,  his 
great-grandfather  being  one  of  those  who  emigrated  to  Massa- 
chusetts after  the  battle  oi  Culloden,  while  his  grandfather 
was   Gen.    Samuel    McClellan,    of    the    Revolution.      The    mar- 


(in)    There  was  still  another  on  Eighth  above  Jayne  street,  bul  by  whom  cou- 
ducted  Is  not  known. 

(n)    Dr.  W.  Darrach,  1847. 


160  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

tial  spirit  was  reproduced  in  the  Doctor's  son,  the  late  General 
George  B.  McClellan  of  the  civil  war.  The  Doctor  himself  had 
something  of  "the  heart  of  a  lion,  and  the  eye  of  an  eagle,"  and 
early  .evinced  qualities  that  betokened  success.  Born  in  Wood- 
stock, Connecticut,  on  December  22,  1796,  he  was  educated  at 
Woodstock  Academy  and  was  prepared  to  enter  Yale  College  at 
the  age  of  sixteen.  This  was  in  the  days  of  Dwight  and  Silliman, 
and  to  the  latter  he  became  greatly  attached,  for  his  enthusiasm 
for  chemistry,  mineralogy  and  geology  was  characteristic  of  his 
academic  course.  Receiving  at  the  age  of  eighteen  his  degree  as 
Bachelor  of  Arts,  he  began  study  under  Dr.  Thomas  Hubbard,  after- 
ward of  the  chair  of  Surgery  in  the  New  Haven  Medical  College. 
In  1817,  he  came  to  Philadelphia,  to  enter  the  University  Medical 
School  under  the  direct  preceptorship  of  Dr.  Dorsey.  He  soon 
became  a  resident  student  of  "Blockley,"  the  Philadelphia  Hospi- 
tal, where  "he  was  the  spirit  and  delight  of  the  house,"  says  his 
eulogist,  and  "he  sometimes  made  trouble,  easily  quieted,  though, 
for  the  people  even  then  seemed  intuitively  to  know  that  McClellan 
was  appointed  to  be  their  head  doctor,  in  spite  of  all  the  great 
doctors;  and  they  let  McClellan  do  anything."  Graduating  in  1819 
(o),  he  at  once  entered  upon  a  surgical  practice  of  a  bold  and  brill- 
iant order,  and  two  years  later,  in  1821,  had  so  many  private  pupils 
that  the  Walnut  street  lecture  room,  already  referred  to,  was 
opened  (p).  His  classes  became  so  large  that  he  was  soon  com- 
pelled to  rent  a  part  of  Rembrant  Peale's  Apollodorian  Gallery, 
in  the  rear  of  his  residence  on  George  street,  and  to  call  to  his  assist- 
ance  Dr.    John   Eberle    (q),    editor    of   the    "American    Medical 


(o)    His  thesis  was  on  "The  Tying  of  Arteries.'' 

fp)  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  Dr.  McClellan's  ideas  of  the  practical  led  to  Jef- 
ferson Medical  College  instituting  dispensary  clinical  instruction  on  May  9th  before 
its  opening  session,  the  first  school  of  the  city  to  do  so.  Out  of  this  grew  the 
iiospital  of  the  College. 

(q)  Dr.  Eberle  came  of  German  parentage.  He  was  born  in  178S  and  gradu- 
ated from  the  medical  school  of  the  University  in  1809  at  the  age  of  twenty-oue. 
Having  ability  as  a  writer  he  became  editor  of  a  political  paper,  until  in  1S18  he 
launched  the  Recorder.  He  soon  issued  also  his  well-known  work  on  "Thera- 
peutics," and  it  was  about  this  time  he  joined  Dr.  McClellan.  He  taught  Materia 
Medica  and  Theory  and  Practice  in  the  first  faculty  of  Jefferson  and  issued  a 
work  on  the  latter  subject  that  is  also  well  known.  In  1831  he  was  persuaded  to 
join  a  new  Ohio  school,  projected  by  Dr.  Drake  at  Cincinnati,  as  a  rival  to  the 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  161 

Recorder,"  a  journal  Dr.  Eberle  had  started  successfully  in  L818, 
after  the  firsl  two  periodicals  had  passed  away.  McClellan's 
school  was  becoming  more  and  more  popular,  and  there  Is  evidence 
;ii  a  very  early  period  thai  he  had  in  mind  its  development  into  b 

medical  college.     Even  during  his  lasl  session  ai  the  University, 

some  projects  for  a  new  dical  college  were  discussed  and  acted 

upon  if).  Dr.  \\'.  1'.  < \  Barton,  professor  of  Botany  in  the  Univer- 
sity (appointed  in  1816),  drew  up  plans  for  a  second  school,  and 
applied  to  the  Legislature  during  the  session  of  L818-19,  which 
etioii,  according  t<>  one  account  is),  came  so  near  being  successful 
that  a  meeting  of  the  University  students  was  called  to  gain  an 
expression  of  their  views.  The  committee  appointed  by  them 
included  Messrs.  J.  K.  Mitchell  as  chairman,  William  Darrach, 
J.  P.  Harrison,  S.  II.  Dickson  and  E.  R.  Craven,  who  reported  a 
strong  resolution  against  a  second  school.  It  was  believed  this 
would  pass,  but  a  student  of  Dr.  James  Rush,  Benjamin  Kush 
l\hees,  arose  to  lead  the  opposition,  and  at  the  next  meeting  the 
report  was  defeated.  The  discussions  of  the  next  year  waxed 
warm  and  lasted  long  in  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society  and 
in  the  press.  In  the  spring  of  1820  an  incident  occurred  that 
involved  the  situation.  A  student,  John  G.  Whildin,  who  was 
about  to  graduate  at  the  University,  was  allowed  to  do  so  on 
condition  that  he  should  expunge  certain  passages  from  his  ihesis. 
This  circumstance  widened  the  breach  between  the  friends  of  the 
University  and  those  who  were  disaffected  or  in  favor  of  a  new 
school.  It  was  during  this  period  that  Dr.  McClellan  undoubtedly 
started  influences  thai  tended  to  make  his  lecture  room  a  rallying 
point  for  the  new  school  party,  for,  says  one  writer:  "Often  had 
I  conversed  freely  with  Eberle  and  McClellan,  in  the  city,  in  respect 
to  the  contemplated  school,"  and,  he  continues:  "Unexpectedly 
both  paid  me  a  visit,  at  my  residence  in  Frank  ford,  avowedly  to 

Medical  College  of  Ohio,  i>ur  they  were  subsequently  united.  He  afterward 
occupied  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  in  Transylvania,  the  year  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1838.  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  but  not  of  decision  of 
character.    lie  was  eighl  yours  older  than  Dr.  McClellan. 

(r)    Early  history  of  Jefferson  Medical  College  by  ramea  r.  Gayley,  M.  D.,  1858. 

(s)    Dr.  Thomas  i>.  Mitchell  in  his  life  of  Dr.  rohn  Eberle  (Gross 
11 


162  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

press  me  more  closely  to  the  advocacy  of  the  cause.  The  daily 
papers  had  already  opened  a  pretty  fierce  discussion  of  the  merits 
of  the  case;  and  it  was  desired  by  both  the  individuals  named  that 
my  pen  should  come  to  their  aid.  This  service  was  rendered  with 
all  the  energy  I  was  able  to  carry  into  the  contest,  and,  like  the 
productions  of  the  opposite  party,  under  a  fictitious  signature. 
It  is  needless  to  conceal  the  fact  that  all  this  zeal  in  the  incipiency 
of  the  enterprise  was,  more  or  less,  prompted  by  an  expectation 
of  being  a  component  part  of  the  faculty  at  the  outset."  "As  will 
always  be  the  case,"  he  writes  further,  "diverse  views  were  advo- 
cated in  respect  to  the  contemplated  new  school,  especially  touch- 
ing its  cognomen,  location,  and  the  corporate  powers  under  which 
it  should  be  conducted.  As  the  ball  was  rolled  on,  it  increased  in 
magnitude  and  importance,  and  many  influential  friends  gave  in 
their  adhesion  to  its  interests.  The  press  teemed  with  essays  pro 
and  con,  while  the  Legislature  was  invoked,  by  all  the  considera- 
tions that  party  zeal  could  adduce,  to  interfere  so  as  to  defeat  the 
purpose  of  the  adventurous  aspirants  who  dared  call  in  question 
the  vested  rights  of  a  century"  (t). 

The  time  seemed  ripe  early  in  1824  to  begin  the  preliminary 
organization  that  should  formulate  these  "diverse  views"  into  a 
working  plan.  McClellan  was  about  to  fulfill  the  prophecy  of  Mor- 
gan concerning  the  University  Medical  School,  that  "it  may  give 
birth  to.  other  useful  institutions  of  a  similar  nature,"  and,  like 
Morgan,  he  proposed  to  launch  his  school  under  the  charter  of  an 
institution  of  liberal  culture,  choosing  for  that  purpose  the  well- 
known  Washington  County  School,  now  Washington  and  Jefferson 
College,  then  called  Jefferson  College,  and  located  at  Canonsburg. 
In  consequence,  he  joined  Dr.  Eberle,  Dr.  Joseph  Klapp,  and  Mr. 
Jacob  Green,  a  son  of  the  Kev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green  of  Princeton,  in 
formulating  the  following  letter  and  proposition  to  the  trustees  of 
that  institution  on  June  2nd:  "The  undersigned,"  the  letter  reads, 
"believing,  upon  mature  consideration,  that  the  establishment  of 
a  second  Medical  School  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  would  be 

(t)    It  does  not  appear  what  "century''  can  be  referred  to.  unless  it  is  the  abbre- 
viated "century"  of  sixty  years  of  "University  medical  school's  life. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  163 

advantageous  to  the  public  not  less  than  to  themselves,  liave 
formed  themselves  int<»  n  Medical  Faculty,  with  the  intention  <»f 
establishing  such  a  school;  and  they  hereby  offer  to  tin-  trustees 
of  Jefferson  College  (<i  become  connected  with  thai  institution  on 
the  conditions  herewith  submitted,  subject  to  such  modifications 
as  on  a  full  and  free  explanation  shall  be  found  satisfactory  to 
the  parties  severally  concerned.  The  undersigned  beg  leave  to 
submit  herewith  the  plan  which  they  have  devised  for  forming 
the  faculty  contemplated,  and  for  conducting  the  concerns  of  the 
same,  open  to  amendments  and  alterations  in  the  manner  already 
proposed."  The  result,  was  the  adoption  by  the  trustees  of  the 
following  resolutions,  which  were,  no  doubt,  the  plan  already 
referred  to.  It  embraces  eleven  points:  "1st:  That  it  is  expedient 
to  establish  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  a  Medical  Faculty,  as  a 
constituent  part  of  Jefferson  College,  to  be  styled  the  Jefferson 
Medical  College.  2nd:  That  the  Faculty  of  the  Medical  College 
shall  consist  of  the  following  professorships:  1st,  a  professorship 
of  Anatomy;  2nd,  of  Surgery;  3rd,  of  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine;  4th,  of  Materia  Medica,  Botany  and  the  Institutes;  5tb, 
of  Chemistry,  Mineralogy  and  Pharmacy;  6th,  of  Midwifery  and 
the  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children.  3rd:  That  whenever  a 
vacancy  occurs  by  death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  it  shall  be 
filled  by  a  gentleman  who  shall  be  nominated  by  the  remaining 
professors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  and  appointed  by  the  trustees 
of  the  College.  4th:  That  a  professor  may  be  removed  by  Tin* 
Board  of  Trustees,  with  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  other 
medical  professors,  after  a  full  aud  fair  investigation  of  the  alleged 
causes  for  the  removal,  but  in  no  other  way.  5th:  That  the  medical 
school  shall  have  no  claims  whatever  on  the  funds  of  Jefferson 
College.  6th:  That  the  medical  professors  shall  make  arrange- 
ments among  themselves  for  the  time  and  place  of  lecturing,  for 
examinations,  and  for  the  general  benefit  of  the  school;  thai  the 
time  for  conferring  medical  degrees  shall  be  determined  by  the 
trustees,  on  the" representation  of  the  Medical  Faculty.  The  same 
fee  shall  be  paid  to  the  President  of  the  College  by  the  graduates 
for  degree  as  for  a  degree  in  the  arts.     7th:  That  this  college  shall 


164  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

use  all  suitable  influence  to  send  medical  pupils  to  the  Medical 
School  connected  with  it  in  Philadelphia;  and  the  Medical  Faculty 
shall  promote  in  every  way  the  interests  and  prosperity  of  the 
college.  8th:  That  the  young  men  who  have  attended  one  course 
of  lectures  in  any  respectable  medical  institution  shall  be  admitted 
to  a  standing  in  all  respects  equal  to  the  one  they  had  left.  9th: 
That  ten  indigent  young  men  of  talents,  who  shall  bring  to  the 
Medical  Faculty  satisfactory  testimonials  and  certificates,  shall 
be  annually  admitted  into  the  Medical  School,  receive  its  medical 
instruction,  and  be  entitled  to  its  honors  without  any  charge.  10th: 
That  the  following  persons,  duly  elected,  be,  and  are  hereby 
appointed,  to  the  following  professorships,  viz.:  Doctor  George 
McClellan,  Professor  of  Surgery;  Dr.  Joseph  Klapp,  Professor  of 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine;  Dr.  John  Eberle,  Professor  of 
Materia  Medica;  Jacob  Green,  Esq.,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Min- 
eralogy and  Pharmacy.  11th :  That  the  president  of  the  board  be, 
and  is  hereby,  appointed  to  forward  these  resolutions  to  the  pro- 
fessors elect,  and  to  hold  any  necessary  correspondence  with  them 
on  the  subject  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  board." 

This  document  was  the  beginning  of  the  official  existence  of 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  although  the  institution  may  really 
be  said  to  date  from  the  opening  of  McClellan's  Walnut  street  lec- 
tures in  1821.  Jefferson  Medical  College  was,  as  yet,  on  paper, 
and  its  struggles  just  begun.  Dr.  Klapp  resigned,  and  so  great 
was  the  difficulty  in  completing  a  faculty  that  the  project  of  open- 
ing the  school  in  the  following  winter,  1824-5,  was  abandoned. 
During  the  next  summer,  1825,  the  first  real  faculty  of  the  institu- 
tion was  organized,  and  its  announcements  issued.  It  included 
the  following  members:  John  Eberle,  M.  D.,  in  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice; Benjamin  Rush  Ehees  (u),  M.  D.,  in  Materia  Medica  and  Insti- 

(u)  Dr.  Rhees  was  a  young  man  of  twenty-seven,  of  delicate  constitution,  but 
of  an  earnest  and  vigorous  intellect.  He  was  born  in  Beula,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1798,  of  Welsh  parentage,  but  on  his  father's  death  in  1S04  came  to  Philadelphia. 
He  was  educated  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  but  some  difficulty  prevented 
hist  class  from  receiving  their  diplomas.  Dr.  James  Rush  was  his  preceptor.  He 
was  resident  physician  of  the  City  Hospital  for  a  time,  and,  after  a  period  of  foreign 
travel,  settled  in  practice  in  the  historic  Loxley  House  of  Philadelphia,  where  he 
gave  private  instruction,  one  of  his  students,  Henry  D.  Smith,  being  the  first 
matriculate  of  Jefferson  Medical  College.     Dr.  Uhees  taught  several  subjects  at 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  165 

tutes;  Jacob  Green  (v),  in  <  Ihemistry;  Nathan  R.  Smith  (w),  .M.  I>.,  in 
Anatomy;  Francis  S.  Beattie,  .M.  D.,  in  Midwifery;  and  George 
McClollan  in  Surgery.  Of  these,  Drs.  McClellan,  Eberle,  Rheesand 
Green  were  the  forces  thai  upheld  the  institution  during  its  cril  ical 
period  of  beginning.  The  faculty  began  prospecting  for  a  build- 
ing and  chose  the  old  Tivoli  Theater,  on  the  south  side  of  Locust, 
then  Prune  street,  below  Sixth,  one  writer  (x)  happily  describes 
the  location  from  the  point  of  view  of  old  students  revisiting  it 
in  later  years.  Starting  at  Ninth  and  Market,  if  they  "turn  their 
faces  southward,  they  will  see  as  they  advance  two  stately  build- 
ings standing  upon  their  right.  At  that  early  day  the  south 
building  represented  the  greatest  medical  school  of  this  country. 
If  they  now  continue  their  walk  to  Walnut  street,  turn  to  the  left 
and  go  eastward  for  two  squares,  they  will  have  a  fine  park  upon 
their  right  called  Washington  Square.  This  was  once  the  Potters' 
Field,  the  receptacle  of  dead  paupers  and  executed  criminals. 
Continuing  on  until  they  arrive  at  Sixth  street,  turning  southward, 
they  will  see  on  their  left,  opposite  the  square,  a  row  of  fine  build- 
ings. These  occupy  the  spot  of  the  Walnut  street  prison,  a  grim 
and  ghastly  structure,  which  extended  to  Prune  street.  Having 
arrived  at  Prune  street,  now  Locust,  turn  to  the  left,  walk 
eastward  on  the  north  side  of  Locust  until  you  get  oppo- 
site to  No.  518;  halt!  right-about-face!  and  survey  that 
structure.  You  see  a  very  humble-looking  building  orna- 
mented   with    inscriptions,    such    as   'RoussePs    Mineral    Water,' 

various  times,  .-is  emergency  required,  until  ins  death  in  1831,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
three  years,  lie  ^v:is  "a  man  small  in  stature,  with  black,  (.-inly  hair  with  a  dark 
blue  eye  and  a  most  lively  and  expressive  countenance.  In  temper  he  was  ardent; 
in  affection  warm;  In  action  Impulsive;  Id  friendship  sincere.  He  was  a  man  of 
varied  acquisition.  1 1  is  inquisitiveness  knew  no  limits,  whilst  his  powers  were 
mainly  devoted  to  his  duties  as  a  physician  and  as  a  professor,  yet  had  he  time 
to  court  the  muses  and  to  pursue  his  researches  Into  the  domains  of  theology  and 
classical  literature." 

(v)  Jacob  Green,  born  in  1T!H»  in  Philadelphia,  was  a  man  of  thirty-five,  lie 
was  a  classical  graduate  of  the  University  and  valedictorian  oi  his  class.  He  was 
made  professor  of  Chemistry  in  Princeton  in  1818,  and  later  in  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  the  latter  of  which  be  held  until  his  death,  in  1841.  He  received  ins 
medical  degree  from  Vale  in  1827. 

(wi    Drs.  Smith  and  Beattie  only  served  for  a  shorl  time. 

(x)    Dr.  Washington  l..  Atlee,  In  an  address  before  the  Alumni  In  1873. 


166  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

'Manufactory  of  Soaps  and  Perfumery,'  etc.  As  we  survey  it,  it 
seems  to  exclaim — 

To  what  base  uses  ha  Ye  I  come  at  last! 

Now  let  us  remove  all  these  embellishments,  that  decorate  or  dis- 
figure its  walls,  and  replace  the  broken  lights,  and  we  will  have 
returned  it  to  its  original  condition,  just  as  it  appeared  in  the 
year  1826." 

As  the  autumn  approached,  measures  were  taken  to  interest 
the  new  student  arrivals,  and  McClellan,  Eberle  or  Khees,  lectured 
every  evening  for  the  purpose,  and  with  such  effect  that  when  school 
opened  in  November,  its  first  class  numbered  one  hundred  and 
seven  (y) ;  while  that  of  the  University,  for  the  same  year,  embraced 
four  hundred  and  forty,  an  increase  of  sixteen  over  the  second  year 
preceding  (z).  The  trustees  secured  an  enlargement  of  their  char- 
ter during  the  year,  by  which  resident  trustees  for  the  medical 
school  could  be  chosen.  The  head  of  this  local  board  was  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Ashbel  Green,  long  president  of  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, but  then  living  in  Philadelphia.  The  trustees  of  the  Univer- 
sity had  been  apprehensive  of  the  effects  of  a  new  school,  no  doubt 
having  in  mind  the  unfortunate  experiences  with  two  schools  at 
the  close  of  the  devolution,  and  they  even  memorialized  the  Legis- 
lature on  the  ground  "that  the  contemplated  location  of  the  Med- 
ical Department  of  Jefferson  College  is  required  by  no  public  neces- 
sity, and  will  be  followed  by  very  injurious  consequences."  To 
this  the  faculty  of  the  new  school  prepared  a  counter  memorial, 
saying,  among  other  things :  "Were  it  ascertained  that  the  organi- 
zation of  a  second  Medical  School  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  would 
have  the  influence,  apprehended  by  the  Trustees,  to  diminish  the 
respectability  of  an  institution  so  honorable  to  the  state  and  use- 
ful to  the  community;  or,  that  it  would  prejudice  the  scientific  char- 
acter of  the  profession,  then  would  we,  at  once,  abandon  so  injurious 
an  enterprise."  They  added  reasons  for  another  school,  citing  the 
large  classes  the  University  still  had,  the  inconveniently  large  nurn- 

(y)    The  faculty's  memorial  says  115. 

(z)  There  were  4S7  in  1S24-5,  the  largest  attendance  of  any  year  in  the  Uni- 
versity's history  before  1848-9.  The  number  of  matriculates  was  but  slightly 
affected  for  many  years,  and  their  graduates  even  increased  veiy  materially,  so  that 
it  was  soon  evident  that  there  was  abundant  room  for  two  institutions. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  107 

ber  of  550  students  for  one  school,  and  the  examples  of  London  and 
New  York.  Theresull  was  thai  the  power  to  confer  degrees  was  not 
secured  by  the  new  school  without  resort  to  the  Harrisburg  courts, 
and  as  it  had  a  class  of  twenty  ready  for  their  diplomas,  Dr. 
McClellan  acted  with  characteristic  rigor.  A  vivid  description 
of  the  occurrence  is  giveu  by  Dr.  Atlee,  then  a  student  at  Lan- 
caster. "In  the  spring  of  L826,"  he  writes,  "nearly  half  a  century 
ago,  four  young  medical  students  were  assembled  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  John  J..  At  lee,  of  Lancaster,  for  t  he  purpose  of  forming  a  quiz- 
zing club.  Quietly  engaged  in  our  deliberations,  we  were  sud- 
denly disturbed  by  a  startling  rap  at  the  door,  in  a  moment  a 
young  man,  breathless  and  excited,  bounded  into  our  midst,  lb- 
was  a  stranger  to  us,  but  our  preceptor,  soon  entering,  recognized 
him  as  a  classmate  and  introduced  us  severally  by  name.  His 
features  were  strongly  marked,  his  gray,  penetrating  eyes  deeply 
set,  and  his  tongue  and  body  were  in  constant  motion.  He  seemed 
to  be  the  embodiment  of  strong  will,  indomitable  energy  and  deter- 
mination, and  every  action  of  his  small  wiry  frame  bore  the 
impress  of  a  restless  and  vigorous  brain.  At  the  door  stood  a  sulky 
with  a  sweating,  panting  horse,  which  he  had  driven  without 
mercy  over  sixty  miles  that  very  day,  having  left  Philadelphia  the 
same  morning.  He  must  be  in  Harrisburg,  thirty-six  miles  beyond, 
that  night.  His  horse  could  go  no  further.  He  must  have  another. 
I  never  saw  a  better  illustration  of  that  passage  in  Shakespeare, 
where  Richard  the  Third  exclaims — 

A  horso!  a  horse:  my  kingdom  for  a  horse! 

My  preceptor's  horse  and  sulky  were  soon  at  the  door  and  at  his 
service.  Hector,  a  noble  animal,  did  his  work  well  that  momen- 
tous night,  and  before  twenty-four  hours  had  elapsed  after  he  had 
left  Philadelphia,  this  young  M.  D.  (mad  doctor)  was  hammering 
at  the  door  of  our  legislature!  His  mission  in  Harrisburg  was 
soon  accomplished,  and,  as  before,  lie  arrived  in  Lancaster  that 
night.  It  was  very  dark,  yet,  in  spite  of  all  remonstrances,  he 
ordered  out  his  horse  and  off  he  flew  for  Philadelphia.  Be  had 
driven  but  a  few  miles,  when,  while  dashing  along,  he  upset  in 
the  highway.     Here  was  a  predicament  from  which  he  could  not 


168  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

extricate  himself  without  assistance.  It  was  night,  and  the  hon- 
est country  people  were  in  bed.  After  repeated  halloos  a  farmer 
made  his  appearance  with  a  lantern,  which  threw  some  light  on 
the  dismal  scene.  Quite  naturally,  the  farmer  began  to  inquire 
into  all  the  particulars  of  the  accident  instead  of  at  once  attempt- 
ing to  right  the  difficulties.  'Come,  come,  good  friend,  that  won't 
do.  Let  us  put  our  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  leave  explanations 
until  another  time.'  Things  were  soon  put  into  driving  order,  and 
next  day  the  charter  of  the  'Medical  Department  of  Jefferson  Col- 
lege' was  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia."  "Need  I  say,"  he  adds,  "that 
this  genius  was  young  McClellan?" 

The  commencement  was  held  on  April  8th,  and  diplomas  were 
awarded  to  the  following  graduates,  whose  respective  theses  are 
given:  From  Pennsylvania,  George  Baldwin,  on  "Cholera 
Infantum;"  John  B.  Brinton,  on  "Cholera;"  George  Carll,  on 
"Anthrax;"  Charles  Graeff,  on  "Bheumatism;"  Charles  M.  Griffiths, 
on  "Cholera  Infantum;"  Jesse  W.  Griffiths,  on  "Intermittent 
Fever;"  Nathan  L.  Hatfield,  on  "Dysentery;"  William  Johnson,  on 
"Extra-Uterine  Pregnancy;"  Thomas  B.  Maxwell,  on  "Lobelia 
Inflata;"  Benjamin  Shaw,  on  "Medical  Practice;"  J.  Frederick  Stad- 
iger,  on  "Epilepsy;"  from  New  Jersey,  Peter  Q.  Beekman,  on 
"Syphilis;"  Balph  Glover,  on  "Hernia;"  from  New  York,  M.  L. 
Knapp,  on  "Apocynum  Canabinum;"  from  Kentucky,  Atkinson 
Pelham,  on  "Mania  a  Potu;"  from  Massachusetts,  James  Swan,  oil 
"Scrofula;"  from  Vermont,  Joel  Foster,  on  "Neuroses;"  from  Ire- 
land, John  Graham,  on  "Epilepsy;"  from  Connecticut,  Benjamin  B. 
Coit,  on  "Tetanus;"  and  from  South  Carolina,  Thomas  M.  Dick,  on 
"Epidemics"  (a). 

The  chief  events  of  the  next  year,  1826-7,  were  the  appoint- 
ment of  Dr.  W.  P.  C.  Barton  to  a  chair  of  Materia  Medica  in  June 
of  '26,  and  Dr.  John  Barnes  to  occupy  the  vacated  chair  of  Mid- 
wifery, over  which  there  was  a  most  unfortunate  legal  quarrel. 
Medical  Jurisprudence  was  also  added  to  the  chair  of  Dr.  Bhees, 

(a)  It  is  notable  that  among  the  twenty-five  graduates  of  1S28,  two  years 
later,  was  a  young  Pennsylvanian,  Samuel  D.  Gross,  who  was  to  arid  honors  to 
his  alma  mater  in  later  years.  His  thesis  was  on  "Cataract."  The  first  catalogue  is 
that  of  1829,  issued  by  the  dean,  W.  P.  C.  Barton,  M.  "D. 


i\  PHILADELPHIA.  160 

and  in  ili«'  face  of  all  obstacles  the  session  closed  wit  J i  ;i  smaller 
attendance,  but  an  increased  Dumber  in  the  graduating  class, 
namely,  thirty-four.  These  results  plainly  indicated  the  necessity 
of  a  permanent  home  for  the  institution,  owned  by  its  officers;  but 
the  school  w;is  yet  too  much  of  an  experiment  to  warrant  such  an 
undertaking,  unless  there  should  arise  some  friend  or  trie  mis,  readj 
to  provide  the  means.  There  had  been  enlisted  iii  the  membership 
of  the  Philadelphia  contingent  of  the  trustees,  some  of  the  most 

notable  Presbyterians  of  Hie  city,  and  among  these  was  the  lev. 
Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  l>.  !>.,  pastor  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church, 
who  was  secretary  of  the  Hoard,  and  who  proved  to  be  the  man 
of  the  hour.  Dr.  Ely  proposed  to  the  board  to  assume  the  entire 
responsibility  of  erecting  a  new  building  himself,  and  on  March 
22,  1827,  the  offer  was  given  effect  by  the  trustees  deciding  "thai 
the  additional  trustees  of  Jefferson  College,  in  their  capacity  as 
trustees,  and  not  otherwise,  do  hereby  agree  with  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Ely,  that  if  he  will  cause  to  be  erected  a  Medical  Hall  for  the  use 
of  the  Medical  School,  on  such  plan  as  shall  be  approved  by  this 
board,  the  additional  trustees  will  rent  the  same  of  him  and  such 
persons,  if  any,  as  he  may  associate  with  him  as  proprietors  of 
said  hall,  for  a  term  of  time  not  less  than  five  years,  at  a  rent  of 
one  thousand  dollars  a  year,  to  be  paid  in  the  month  of  November 
iu  each  of  the  said  five  years, — after  said  building  shall  be  fitted 
for  use."  This  money  was  to  be  provided  by  assessing  the  various 
chairs:  those  of  Anatomy,  Surgery,  Materia  Medica  and  Chem- 
istry, two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  each,  and  sum  Her  sums  to  the 
rest.  The  faculty  agreed  and,  by  May,  a  lot  on  Tenth  street,  be- 
tween Juniper  alley  and  George  street,  was  secured  and  building 
plans  adopted,  so  that,  by  August,  1828,  "the  very  elegant  and  ap- 
propriately furnished  new  building  in  Tenth  street"  was  ready  for 
use. 

Meanwhile,  more  difficulties  arose  in    the   ("acuity.     The  able 
professor  Of  Anatomy  resigned   in   October  of  '-",   compelling    Dr. 

McClellan  to  till  two  chairs.     In  June  following,  a  new  trouble 

With  the  chair  of  Midwifery,  then  filled  by   Dr.  Barnes,  caused  the 

trustees  to  vacate  all  the  chairs  and  rest  or.-  i  hem  on  the  26th,  with 


170  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

that  of  Midwifery  unfilled  and  Dr.  Robert  M.  Patterson  in  the  chair 
of  Anatomy.  Dr.  Patterson  was  called  to  the  University  of  Virginia, 
however,  and  the  chair  was  occupied,  as  before,  with  Dr.  Samuel 
McClellan  as  assistant.  Dr.  Eberle  lectured  on  Midwifery,  and 
the  year  1828-9  closed  fairly  well.  The  next  year's  prospects  were 
modified  by  the  withdrawal  of  Dr.  Barton  to  New  York  in  Decem- 
ber, as  naval  surgeon,  with  his  course  to  be  finished  by  Dr.  Rhees, 
and  the  promotion  of  Dr.  Samuel  McClellan  (b)  in  January  of  1830, 
to  the  chair  of  Anatomy.  In  February,  Dr.  Eberle  resumed  the 
chair  of  Materia  Medica,  with  Midwifery  attached,  and  Drs.  James 
and  William  Rush  were  elected  to  his  chair  of  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice, William  being  named  as  adjunct.  These  gentlemen,  however, 
declined,  and  Dr.  Daniel  Drake  (c)  of  Cincinnati  took  the  chair, 
and  again,  for  the  first  time  in  three  years,  the  faculty  was  com- 
plete. The  year  1830-1  thus  opened  with  the  brightest  of  pros- 
pects; for  Dr.  Drake  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  school,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  his  teaching  was  felt  in  the  city  throughout  the  entire  pro- 
fession. Dr.  Drake,  however,  was  ambitious  to  found  a  great 
medical  college  in  the  West;  at  the  close  of  the  session  he  with- 
drew for  that  purpose,  and,  persuading  Dr.  Eberle  to  take  like 
action,  both  went  to  Cincinnati  in  1831.  This  was  the  hardest 
blow  the  Jefferson  Medical  School  had  yet  received,  but  still 
another  disaster  followed  in  the  death  of  Dr.  Rhees.  In  conse- 
quence, the  chair  of  Practice  was  filled  by  Dr.  John  Revere  in 
1831-2;  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  by  Dr.  Usher  Parsons,  that  of 

(b)  Dr.  McClellan  was  a  younger  brother  of  the  founder,  born  in  1800.  He  was 
educated  chiefly  in  his  brother's  office,  in  the  University,  and  in  the  medical  depart- 
ment of  Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1823.  He  spent  three  years  in  travel 
in  Mexico,  and  in  1828  began  his  connection  with  the  chair  of  Anatomy  as  Demon- 
strator. In  1832  he  resigned  his  chair  in  favor  of  Dr.  Granville  S.  Pattison,  and 
he  was  chosen  to  the  chair  vacated  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Rhees.  In  1836  the  chair 
was  divided,  giving  him  that  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women,  in  which  he 
was  so  successful  that  on  the  vacation  of  all  the  chairs  in  1839,  he  was  re-elected. 
He  soon  resigned,  however,  and  retired  to  private  practice.  Dr.  McClellan  had 
a  remarkable  memory;  he  was  "a  quiet,  unassuming  man,"  beloved  by  all  who 
knew  him.    He  died  in  1854. 

(c)  Dr.  Drake's  fame  belongs  to  the  West,  and  is  well  known  to  every  student 
of  American  medicine.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  born  in  1785,  and  died  in 
1852,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven. 


i  \  run. .\  DELPB  i.\.  in 

Materia  Medics  i»\  Dr.  Samuel  Colhoun  (d),  thai  of  Anatomy  by 
Dr.  Granville  Sharpe  Pattison,  with  Dr.  Charles  h;t\is  as  adjunct 
in  the  chair  of  Chemistry.  Drs.  Parsons  and  h;i\i>  resigned  al 
the  close  of  tin-  year,  and  the  misfortunes  of  the  preceding  year 
told  heavily  <»ii  the  graduates. 

The  year  L832-3  began  with  Drs.  Pattison,  George  and  Samuel 
McClellan,  Revere,  Colhoun  and  Green  as  the  faculty,  and,  except- 
ing the  addition  in  L836  of  Dr.  Robley  Dunglison  to  the  chair  of 
Institutes  ; i ml  Medical  Jurisprudence,  the  institution  had  six  years 
of  freedom  from  change  in  its  members.  This  was  a  period  of 
such  growth  that,  the  graduating  classes,  beginning  with  that  of 
'34,  rose  yearly  from  fifty-two  to  fifty-eight,  seventy-two,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-live,  and  one  hundred  and  eight  This  was  due 
in  large  measure  to  the  qualities  brought  into  the  school  by  Drs. 
Pattison,  Kevere  and  Dunglison.  Dr.  Revere  was  a  man  of  forty- 
four  years,  the  son  of  Paul  Revere  of  the  Revolution.  Born  in  17^7 
in  Boston,  he  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1807  and  four  years 
later  received  his  medical  degree  in  Edinburgh.  Be  soon  estab- 
lished himself  in  Baltimore,  aud  made  some  valuable  discoveries 
in  applied  chemistry.  In  1831  he  was  called  to  this  chair  in  the 
new  school.  Here  his  excellent,  qualities  as  a  physician  and  lec- 
turer added  greatly  to  the  strength  of  the  faculty  during  his  ten 
years  of  service.  He  and  Dr.  Pattison  both  resigned  in  istl  to 
take  like  chairs  in  the  University  of  New  York  (e). 

Dr.  Pattison  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the  Jefferson  School 
during  this  period  of  ten  years.  He  was  a  brilliant  lecturer  and 
teacher,  but  a  man  of  intense  feeling  and  strong  prejudices.  Years 
previous  to  his  connection  with  this  College  his  impetuous  tem- 
perament, and  some  unfortunate  experiences  in  Europe,  combined 
to  involve  him  in  serious  ditliculties.     He  was  of  Scotch  parentage. 

(d)  Dr.  Colhoun  was  born  In  Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  in  1787,  and  died 
in  1S41  at  the  age  of  fifty-four.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  1S04  and  of 
the  University  Medical  School  in  1808.  He  settled  in  Philadelphia,  and.  after  his 
nine  years'  service  in  Jefferson  Medical  College,  joined  the  Drs.  McClellan  and 
others  in  a  new  school,  lie  was  a  bachelor,  learned  and  of  genial,  generous  dis- 
position. 

(e)  Dr.  Revere  died  in  New  York  in  1S47.  u  the  age  of  sixty  years,  one  of  the 
eminent  men  of  the  profession.  Dr.  Pattison  died  there  four  years  later,  at  almost 
exactly  the  same  age.  and  with  equal  eminence. 


172  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

born  in  Glasgow  in  1792,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  began  the 
study  of  medicine  in  the  private  school  of  Dr.  Allan  Burns.  At 
nineteen  he  became  demonstrator  of  Anatomy  for  his  preceptor 
and  two  years  of  success  led  him  to  open  a  school  of  his  own. 
Soon  after  he  was  appointed  to  a  life  position  in  the  Andersonian 
Institute,  but  in  the  winter  of  1818-19  removed  to  the  United  States, 
with  the  hope  of  succeeding  Dr.  Dorsey  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. Not  successful  in  this,  he  settled  in  Philadelphia  and 
joined  the  movement  for  a  new  medical  school,  in  which  he  took 
such  aggressive  measures  as  to  print  the  Whildin  thesis,  before 
referred  to,  with  its  expunged  passages  retained  and  italicized. 
This  engendered  the  most  bitter  feeling,  and  it  was  further 
increased  by  rumors  of  a  Glasgow  scandal,  in  which  Dr.  Pattison, 
although  acquitted  on  trial,  was  believed  by  his  opponents  to  be 
guilty.  He  attributed  these  rumors  to  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chapman, 
and  in  1820  challenged  the  Doctor,  thereby  giving  more  publicity 
to  the  affair.  In  October  of  the  same  year,  he  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  the  chair  of  Anatomy  in  the  University  of  Maryland 
at  Baltimore.  Here  his  success  as  a  teacher  was  repeated,  but 
he  afterwards  returned  to  England  and  held  the  same  chair  in 
the  University  of  London,  recently  organized.  In  the  session  of 
1831-2  he  came  to  Philadelphia  to  his  position  in  Jefferson  Medical 
College.  "In  the  graduation  in  the  spring  of  1833,"  said  he,  in  an 
introductory  lecture  six  years  afterwards,  "the  list  of  our  gradu- 
ates only  numbered  sixteen! !  In  four  years  afterwards,  our  list 
of  graduates  outnumbered  that  of  our  sister  institution,  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania — of  that  school  with  which  we  were 
accused  of  madness  for  attempting  a  competition.  These  facts 
are  mentioned,  gentlemen,  not  for  the  purpose  of  vaunting;  but 
surely  we  are  excusable  in  feeling  an  honest  pride  in  a  triumph 
so  gratifying  to  ourselves  and  so  honorable  to  our  institution"  (f). 
A  member  of  the  faculty  of  this  decade,  1831-41,  who  was  the 

(f)  The  University  School  had  405  students  in  18.37,  the  year  referred  to,  and 
lf>2  graduates,  by  far  the  largest  number  in  her  history  up  to  that  date.  According 
to  one  authority,  Jefferson  had  125  that  year,  the  largest  number  up  to  that  date 
in  her  own  history.  The  records,  however  flattering  to  Jefferson's  growth,  do  not 
quite  confirm  Dr.  Pattison's  statement  for  1837,  or  even  the  total  for  four  years, 
1S33-7.    He  may  not  have  been  correctly  reported. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  17:: 

harbinger  of  greater  days  for  Jefferson,  and  one  who  was  to  be  the 
connecting  link  between  the  old  and  the  new  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  was  Dr.  Lloblej  Dunglison,  who  joined  the  faculty  in  June, 
L836.     ll<'  was  "no  ordinary  man/'  writes  Dr.  S.   I>.  Gross  over 
thirty  years  later;  "indeed,  in  more  than  one  sense  of  the  term, 
he  was  an    illustrious    man;    ;i  greal    scholar,  an    accomplished 
teacher,  a  profound  physiologist,  an  acute  thinker,  ;i  facile  writer, 
a  lucid,  erudite  and  abundanl  author."     Dr.  Dunglison  was  ;i  man 
of  forty  years  when  he  joined  tin*  young  school;  be  was  born  in 
Keswick,  England,  in  L798,  was  educated  al  a  well-known  classical 
school,  ami  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  his  seventeenth  year. 
After  work  in  th<"  universities  al   Edinburgh,  London  and   Paris, 
he  was  licensed  by  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  and  began  prac- 
tice in  lsi!>.     In  1.S24  he  received  his  degree  from  the  University 
of  Erlangen,  became  accoucheur  to  the   Eastern   Dispensary  of 
Loudon,  and  began  lectures  on  Midwifery.     Soon  alter,  at  the  age 
of   twenty-six,   he  received   from   the  ex-President   of   the    Pnited 
Stales,  Thomas  Jefferson,  an  invitation  to  join  the  medical  faculty 
of  the  University  of  Virginia,  of  which  he  was  the  founder.     His 
teaching  was  to  cover  almost  the  whole  field  of  medicine: — anatomy. 
physiology,  surgery,  materia  medica,  pharmacy,  and  the  history  of 
medicine.     He  not  only  accomplished  it  successfully  for  nine  years, 
but  also  produced  his  great  work  on  "Human  Physiology"  and  his 
•.Medical  Dictionary/'  which  has  so  Well  stood  the  test  of  time. 
In  1833  he  was  chosen  for  the  chair  of  Materia   Medica,  Thera- 
peutics, Hygiene  and  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  of 
Maryland,  where  he  wrote  his  work  on  "General  Therapeutics," 
and  in  June,  1836,  he  accepted  the  chair  of  the  Institutes  of  Medi- 
cine in  Jefferson  Medical  College,  which  he  held  for  thirty-two 
years,  becoming  emeritus  professor  only  a  year  before  his  death, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-one.     Dr.  Dunglison  w;is  a  man  of  the  wid(  si 
sympathies  and  interests,  and  one  of  the  most    prolific  authors  of 
his  time,     it  is  said  that  the  total  issue  of  his  books  aggregated 
about  l.V>,f>00  volumes,      lie  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Medicine  from  Vale  and  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Jefferson  College. 
He  was  "a  many-sided  man,  with  a  rare  blending  of  mental  quali- 


174  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ties,  an  admirable  symmetry  of  mind  and  character,  a  delicate 
and  discriminative  judgment,  a  capacious  memory,  a  fervent  love 
of  truth,  a  keen  insight  into  human  nature,  an  amazing  coolness 
and  self-control,  great  powers  of  endurance,  and  a  remarkable 
freedom  from  prejudice,  eccentricity  and  exaggeration.  These  it 
was  which  fitted  him  for  his  peculiar  stations  in  life,  and  made 
him  what  he  was,  a  beacon  light  in  the  world  of  medical  literature, 
and  one  of  the  foremost  writers  and  teachers  of  his  day."  Dr. 
Dunglison  was  the  element  of  conservative  strength  of  this  period, 
and  was  undoubtedly  the  leading  influence  in  the  reconstruction 
that  was  soon  to  come,  and  symbol  of  the  order  that  was  to  spring 
from  the  chaotic  years  preceding  1841. 

The  changes  that  closed  the  old  order  began  in  the  session 
of  1838-9,  and  these  related  to  the  building,  the  charter  and  the 
faculty.  Classes  were  now  so  large  that  additions  to  the  building 
became  necessary,  and  as  it  was  still  the  property  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Ely,  and  the  charter  granted  no  property  rights,  it  was  determined 
by  the  "additional  trustees,"  who  were  the  governing  body  of  the 
medical  school,  to  secure  an  independent  charter.  This  was 
effected  early  in  the  spring  of  1838,  giving  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege of  Philadelphia  an  independent  existence,  "with  the  same 
powers  and  restrictions  as  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,"  and 
constituting  the  "additional  trustees"  its  first  board.  On  April  19y 
these  trustees  addressed  a  last  communication  in  their  old  capacity, 
saying:  "Resolved,  that  the  President  be  directed  to  communicate 
to  the  mother  board  at  Canonsburg,  that,  in  accepting  the  charter 
which  separates  them  from  the  Jefferson  College  at  Canonsburg, 
the  additional  trustees  are  influenced  by  the  conviction  that  such 
a  separation  is  for  the  mutual  benefit  and  convenience  of  both 
bodies,  and  desire  it  for  no  other  reason;  and  that  this  board  will 
retain  a  grateful  sense  of  the  kind  and  fostering  care  ever  exhibited 
towards  them  by  the  parent  institution,  and  will  in  their  new  capac- 
ity be  always  ready  to  acknowledge  their  past  obligations,  and 
to  exchange,  in  every  way  in  their  power,  kind  offices  with  Jeffer- 
son College  at  Canonsburg." 

Jefferson  Medical  College  was  destined  to  celebrate  the  first 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

year  of  its  independent  existence  by  a  faculty  disagreement,  which 
compelled  il  to  vacate  all  the  chairs  in  May,  L839,  in  order  to 
remove  tin-  founder  of  tin-  institution  from  the  chair  of  Surgery, 
and,  as  it  happened,  from  the  Bchool.  The  College,  now  firmly 
established,  fell  able  i<»  dispense  with  McClellan,  its  founder,  and 
no  longer  needed  tin*  "fostering  care"  of  the  mother  institution 
;n  Canonsburg.  On  July  l<»,  L839,  tie-  <»I<1  faculty  was  re-elected, 
giving  the  chair  of  Surgery  to  Dr.  Joseph  Pancoasl  and  Materia 
Medica  to  Dr.  R.  M.  Buston;  but  as  Dr.  McClellan  and  Dr.  ( lolhoun 
were  soon  followed  by  Dr.  MeClellan's  brother,  who  resigned  the 
chair  of  Midwifery,  Dr.  Huston  was  given  that  chair  and  Dr.  Dungli- 
son  added  Materia  Medica  to  his.  The  new  faculty  was  now- 
composed  of  Drs.  Pattison,  Revere,  Dunglison,  Pancoast,  Euston 
and  Green.  Asa  consequence  of  these  measni.-s,  nearly  half  of  the 
graduating  class  withdrew,  preferring  to  sit  under  MeClellan's 
teaching  or  to  enter  other  schools  in  the  year  L839-40.  The  class 
numbered  only  fifty-eight  this  year  ami  sixty  the  next.  The 
changes  of  the  year  following  were  still  greater  and  resulted  in 
entirely  removing  the  original  faculty.  These  changes  began  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1841,  with  the  death  of  Dr.  Green;  on  the  2nd  of  April, 
Drs.  Pattison  and  Revere  resigned  to  go  to  New  York,  ami  all 
the  chairs  were  again  vacated.  Thus  closed  the  first  period  <»f 
Jefferson's  history,  a  stormy  time  that  may  be  said,  in  reality,  to 
cover  the  years  since  1821,  when  young  McClellan,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  began  his  lectures  on  Walnut  street. 

Dr.  McClellan  was  forty-three  when  he  left  Jefferson.  ITe 
"immediately  conceived  the  project  of  a  third  medical  school." 
writes  a  colleague  (g),  "and  with  characteristic  buoyancy  of  spirit 
and  determination  of  purpose,  he  went  in  person,  accompanied  by 
a  single  professional  friend,  to  solicit  a  charter  from  the  State 
Legislature."  This  time  he  attached  his  school  to  Pennsylvania 
College  at  Gettysburg,  securing  it  full  corporate  privileges  as  the 
Medical  Department  of  that  institution  (h).     As  a  faculty  in-  had 

(g)    Dr.  S.  G.  Morton. 

(h)  The  board  created  the  depart mor.t  on  September  is.  1830,  in  answer  to  the 
faculty's  proposal  of  the  14th  preceding.  The  legislative  act  was  approved  March 
6.  1840. 


176  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

secured,  for  the  chair  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Dr.  Samuel  G. 
Morton  (i);  for  the  chair  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery, 
himself;  Dr.  Colhoun  for  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica  and  Phar- 
macy; Dr.  Samuel  McClellan  for  the  chair  of  Obstetrics;  Dr.  Will- 
iam Bush  for  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic;  and  Dr. 
Walter  B.  Johnson  for  the  chair  of  Chemistry.  They  secured  a 
building  on  Filbert  street,  above  Eleventh;  in  November  opened 
their  session  with  a  class  of  nearly  one  hundred  students,  and  for 
four  years  the  school  maintained  this  average.  The  only  change 
during  this  period  was  the  succession  of  Dr.  Robert  M.  Bird  to  the 
chair  vacated  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Colhoun  in  1841.  Two  years 
later,  in  1843,  the  financial  difficulties  compelled  the  faculty  to 
resign  (j),  and  Dr.  McClellan  retired  to  private  practice  as  the 
founder  of  two  medical  colleges.  He  survived  but  four  years 
longer  and  died  in  1847,  in  his  fifty-first  year.  Dr.  McClellan  was 
eminently  a  bold  and  practical  operative  surgeon,  although  he  was 
much  more  than  that.    He  probably  had  greater  pride  in  what  he 


(i)  Dr.  Morton  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  born  in  1799.  of  Irish  lineage. 
His  father's  death  led  to  his  mother's  location  in  a  Friends'  community  near  New 
York,  so  that  his  early  years  were  spent  under  its  influence.  He  was  left  an 
orphan  in  1817.  A  copy  of  Dr.  Rush's  lectures  led  him  to  study  medicine:  he 
joined  the  class  under  Dr.  Parrish,  and  in  1820  graduated  from  the  University 
Medical  School.  After  extensive  study  in  Europe  he  was  graduated  -in  1823  at 
Edinburgh,  and  in  1826  settled  in  Philadelphia  practice.  He  was  a  man  of  quiet, 
scholarly  and  scientific  tastes,  a  voluminous  writer  of  natural  history,  archaeology 
and  various  allied  lines  of  research.    He  died  in  1851,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two  years. 

(j)  This  institution  had  an  independent  existence  of  twenty  years,  until  in 
1859  it  was  merged  with  another  school  which  sprang  from  the  private  anatomical 
school  founded  by  Dr.  James  McClintock  the  same  session  that  closed  McClellan's 
connection  with  Jefferson.  The  faculty  chosen  to  succeed  McClellan's  embraced 
Dr.  William  Darrach  for  Practice;  Dr.  H.  S.  Patterson  for  Materia  Medica;  Dr. 
W.  R.  Grant  for  Anatomy  and  Dr.  John  Wiltbank  for  Obstetrics.  The  next  year 
Dr.  Washington  L.  Atlee  was  given  the  chair  of  Chemistry,  and  in  1845  Dr.  David 
Gilbert  that  of  Surgery.  Four  years  without  change  were  succeeded  by  a  new 
building,  erected  at  Locust  and  Ninth  streets,  but  no  change  occurred  in  the  faculty 
for  three  years,  when  Dr.  John  J.  Reese  succeeded  Atlee,  Dr.  J.  M.  Allen  was 
given  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  and  Dr.  Francis  Gurrey  Smith  that  of  the  Institutes. 
The  next  year  Dr.  Patterson's  death  gave  his  chair  to  Dr.  John  B.  Biddle,  and  in 
1854,  Dr.  Gilbert  was  chosen  for  the  chair  of  Obstetrics,  Dr.  John  Neil  for  that 
of  Surgery,  and  Dr.  Alfred  Stille  for  the  chair  of  Practice.  Anatomy  went  to  Dr. 
T.  G.  Richardson  in  1856,  and  two  years  later  to  Dr.  John  H.  B.  McClellan.  In 
1859;  however,  all  the  faculty  resigned,  and  the  faculty  of  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Medicine  took  their  places,  and  thus  merged  the  two  schools,  by  closing  the 
latter.  This  institution  had  a  long  legal  controversy  over  the  claims  of  Drs.  Dar- 
rach and  Wiltbank  as  successors  to  the  original  charter. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  I  H 

would  have  called  the  "practical"  than  in  any  other  characteristic. 
"Recollect,"  said  be,  in  L836,  to  the  class  about  to  receive  diplomas, 
"recoiled  what  l  have  bo  often  and  so  constantly  urged  on  your 
attention,  respecting  the  rules  of  inductive  science.  Be  always 
governed  by  the  observation  of  symptoms,  and  n<>t  i».\  the  imag- 
inary causes  of  them.  The  whole  science  <>r  nature  consists  in 
the  classification  of  phenomena.  We  can  do  but  rery  Little  in 
the  way  of  theory,  and  aothing  in  the  way  of  hypothesis.  Be  •■■>ii- 
tent,  I  beg  of  yon,  to  follow  the  dictates  of  common  sense  in  all 
cases  and  under  all  circumstances.  Be  satisfied  with  the  opinions 
you  can  form  from  a  plain  ami  careful  examination  of  the  indica- 
tions which  nature  holds  up  to  your  view;  ami  reject  all  inquiry 
into  the  secret  ami  undetinable  causes  of  life  ami  disease.  You 
cannot  imagine  the  advantages  which  you  will  gain  by  such  a 
course  of  practice  over  those  who  are  governed  by  the  long- 
exploded  precepts  of  the  schoolmen — revived  and  repolished,  ;i^ 
it  must  be  confessed  they  have  been,  by  the  innovators  of  Frame. 
While  they  are  balancing  doubts  and  difficulties,  and  vibrating 
from  one  conjecture  to  another,  you  will  be  fortified  by  the  calm 
and  unchangeable  dictates  of  sound  reason  and  philosophy."  Dr. 
MeClellan's  life  was  characterized  by  his  love  of  Surgery  and  his 
ambition  to  found  a  medical  school.  There  is  no  doubt  that,  in 
his  affection,  the  highest  place  was  always  held  by  the  school  he 
founded  first,  Jefferson  Medical  College. 

While  the  University,  Jefferson,  and  the  Medical  Department 
of  Pennsylvania  College  were  growing  along  together  from  1839, 
another  private  school  was  arising  to  form  a  fourth  medical  col- 
lege. Dr.  James  McClintock,  the  originator  of  the  Philadelphia 
School  of  Anatomy,  or  rather  of  the  first  school  bearing  that  name, 
in  1838,  as  has  been  stated,  had  such  success  in  his  brilliant 
demonstrations  in  the  western  room  of  that  building,  that  three 
years  later  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Anatomy  in  a  Vermont, 
and,  subsequently,  to  a  Massachusetts  institution.  He  returned  to 
Philadelphia  in  L843,  and  again  took  charge  of  the  western  room. 
adding,  the  following  year,  lectures  on  Practice,  by  Dr.  J.  11. 
McCloskey,  and  on  Materia  Medica  by  Dr.  Jackson  Van  Stavern. 

12 


178  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Three  years  later,  in  the  spring  of  1847,  he  secured  a  charter  for 
the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  which  proposed  both  sum- 
mer and  winter  sessions,  degrees  to  be  conferred  at  the  close  of 
either  session.  Some  of  the  lectures  were  given  in  the  old  west- 
ern room  of  the  School  of  Anatomy,  and  some  in  the  school  of 
Pharmacy,  on  Filbert,  above  Seventh  street.  In  this  faculty,  he 
lectured  on  Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Surgery;  Dr.  Jesse  B.  Bur- 
den on  Materia  Medica;  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Mitchell  on  Practice  and 
Obstetrics,  and  Dr.  William  H.  Allen  on  Chemistry.  The  first 
graduates  numbered  eighteen.  In  the  autumn  they  moved  to  their 
new  building  on  Fifth  street,  south  of  Walnut,  where,  during  the 
session  of  1847-8,  they  had  an  attendance  of  sixty-nine  students, 
with  thirteen  graduates  in  March  and  twenty-one  in  July.  The 
faculty  in  this  year  chose  Dr.  Henry  Gibbons  for  the  chair  of  the 
Institutes,  Dr.  C.  A.  Savory  for  the  chair  of  Obstetrics,  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kennedy  for  that  of  Chemistry  and  Dr.  M.  W.  Dickerson  for  that 
of  Comparative  Anatomy.  In  1849  Dr.  Bush  Van  Dyke  occupied 
the  chair  of  Materia  Medica  and  Dr.  C.  C.  Cox  that  of  Obstetrics. 
There  were  other  changes  during  the  first  seven  years,  and  yet  dur- 
ing that  time  about  four  hundred  were  graduated.  The  institution 
was  reorganized  in  1854,  adopted  the  national  code  of  ethics,  and  had 
a  faculty  composed  of  Dr.  George  Hewston,  lecturing  on  Anatomy; 
Dr.  Henry  Hartshorne  on  the  Institutes,  Dr.  Isaac  A.  Pennypacker 
on  Practice.  Dr.  James  L.  Tyson  on  Materia  Medica,  Dr.  Joseph 
Parrish  on  Obstetrics,  Dr.  E.  M.  Tilden  on  Surgery,  and  Dr.  B.  How- 
ard Band  on  Chemistry.  The  next  year  Dr.  Lewis  D.  Harlow  lec- 
tured on  Obstetrics.  In  1856  Dr.  A.  T.  King  filled  the  chair  of  Prac- 
tice and  Dr.  George  Dock  that  of  Surgery;  the  next  year  Dr.  Harts- 
horne lectured  on  Practice,  Dr.  W.  S.  Halsey  on  Surgery,  Dr.  W.  H. 
Taggart  on  Materia  Medica,  and  Dr.  James  Aitken  Meigs  on  the 
Institutes;  in  1858,  Dr.  W.  H.  Gobrecht  taught  Anatomy.  In  1859, 
in  virtue  of  an  agreement  between  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Medicine  and  the  Pennsylvania  Medical  College  (the  Gettysburg 
School),  the  faculty  of  the  latter  resigned,  and  its  chairs  were 
taken  possession  of  by  the  faculty  of  the  former,  composed  of  Drs. 
Band,  Hartshorne,  Harlow,  Halsey,  Taggart,  Meigs  and  Gobrecht. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  VJ9 

The  institution,  which  occupied  the  castellated  structure  <>n  Ninth 
street,  belo"w  Locust,  lasted  bul  two  years,  although  ii  began  proe 
perously  and  had,  the  ftrsl  year,  aboul  forty  graduates;  for  a  com- 
bination of  difficulties,  due  chiefly  to  ili<*  opening  of  ih<-  civil  war 
oi  '61,  caused  the  dissolution  of  the  Medical  Departmenl  of  Penn- 
sylvania College,  which  McClellan  bad  founded. 

If  McClintock's  College  sprang  out  of  the  western  room  of  the 
School  of  Anatomy  in  L847,  it  may  have  been  because  --« »m«-  of  I  he 
men  connected  with  the  eastern  room  had,  the  previous  year,  of 
January  28,  1846,  secured  -a  charter  for  Franklin  Medical  College, 
and  opened  it  in  the  old  building  on  Locust  above  Eleventh  street, 
built  for  the  school  Chapman  founded  in  1817.  Dr.  John  P>.  Biddle 
was  its  dean,  and  the  faculty  was  composed  of  Dr.  Paul  B.  God- 
dard  for  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  Dr.  C.  C.  Van  Wyck  for  the  chair 
of  Surgery,  Dr.  David  II.  Tucker  for  the  chair  of  Medicine,  Dr. 
Biddle  for  the  chair  of  .Materia  Medica,  Dr.  William  Byrd  Page  for 
the  chair  of  Obstetrics,  Dr.  L.  S.  Jones  for  that  of  Physiology  and 
Jurisprudence,  and  Dr.  liobert  Bridges  for  that  of  Chemistry.  They 
began  with  a  class  of  thirty-seven,  and  had  five  graduates  in  the 
commencement  of  '47.  The  institution  survived  only  two  sessions. 
and  had  the  honor,  during  that  period,  of  being  the  fifth  of  the 
regular  medical  colleges  of  Philadelphia.  In  those  years,  184G-7 
and  '48,  we  find  the  largest  number  of  regular  medical  schools  for 
men  in  the  city's  history.  The  University  School  was  at  Ninth 
street,  below  Market;  Jefferson,  on  Tenth  street,  below  Chestnut; 
the  Pennsylvania,  on  Filbert  street,  above  Eleventh;  the  Phila- 
delphia, on  Filbert,  street,  above  Seventh,  and  the  Franklin  on 
Locust  street,  above  Eleventh;  while  medical  students  were 
remarkably  numerous,  ranging  from  the  University's  509  matricu- 
lates in  1848  down  to  Franklin's  37  enrolled  tkl. 

This  was  not  all.  The  greatest  medical  center  in  the  land  was 
not  only  productive  of  great  medical  activity  on  regular  lines,  bin 

(k)    It  is  Interesting  to  note  thai  the  following  year,   1849,  a  medical  so 
was  organized  at  the  house  of  Dr.  James  Bryan  al  Tenth  and  Arch  streets,  called 
the  Medico-ChlrurgicaJ  College,     ii  was  only  a  medical  society,    nol  a  College  for 
lectures.    Dr.  Bryan  had  a  private  school,  called  The  Surgical  Institute,  in  tin- 
same  build  incr. 


180  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

offered  a  fine  field  for  experiments.  So  thought  the  German  sup- 
porters of  the  first  Homeopathic  College  in  the  United  States,  at 
Allentown,  Pennsylvania.  This  institution  had  been  opened  in  1835, 
thirteen  years  before,  to  teach  the  doctrines  of  Samuel  Hahnemann 
in  the  German  tongue.  The  establishment  of  a  similar  one  in  Phila- 
delphia had  been  discussed  frequently  in  later  years,  but  it  was 
not  until  the  members  of  the  Central  Bureau  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Homeopathy  held  a  meeting  at  the  home  of  Dr.  Jacob 
Jeans  of  Philadelphia,  in  February,  1848,  that  measures  were 
decided  upon.  Dr.  Constantine  Hering  and  Dr.  Walter  William- 
son were  among  those  present,  and  plans  were  made  for  a  petition 
to  the  Legislature  for  a  charter.  This  was  secured  on  April  8,  fol- 
lowing, and  a  faculty  organized,  composed  of  Dr.  Jacob  Jeans  for 
the  chair  of  Practice,  Dr.  Caleb  B.  Matthews  for  the  chair  of 
Materia  Medica,  Dr.- Walter  Williamson  for  the  chair  of  Obstet- 
rics, Dr.  Francis  Sims  for  the  chair  of  Surgery,  Dr.  Samuel  Freed- 
ley  for  the  chair  of  Botany,  Dr.  Matthew  Semple  for  that  of  Chem- 
istry, Dr.  W.  A.  Gardiner  for  that  of  Anatomy,  and  Dr.  Alvan  E. 
Small  for  that  of  Physiology  and  Pathology.  On  the  15th  of 
October  lectures  were  begun  at  627  Arch  street,  in  the  rear  of  the 
building,  and  a  dispensary  was  opened;  but  the  next  year,  when 
the  second  McClellan  school  moved  into  new  quarters,  the  Home- 
opathic Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  moved  into  the  old  Filbert 
street  building,  above  Eleventh  street.  This  institution  brought  a 
new  element  into  the  medical  field  that  affected  medical  discussion 
more  or  less  from  that  time  on.  Another  institution,  called  Wash- 
ington Medical  College,  was  chartered  four  years  later,  though 
not  organized.  The  first  school  straggled  hard  for  existence  and 
finally  succumbed.  It  rose  again  to  become  the  well-known  Hahne- 
mann Medical  College  and  Hospital,  on  Broad  street;  but  Homeop- 
athy never  gained  so  firm  a  foothold  in  Philadelphia  as  in  many 
less  conservative  cities.  As  a  contrast  to  this  movement,  there  was 
chartered  also  in  1848  the  Eclectic  Medical  College  of  Philadelphia, 
which  existed  for  a  time  on  Haines  street,  west  of  Sixth.  Eclecti- 
cism suffered  an  even  worse  fate  than  Homeopathy,  however,  and 
the  school  was  discontinued  during  the  war. 


i.\  PHILADELPHIA.  181 

This  fermenl  of  medical  thought  went  beyond  medical  theorj 
and  opened  the  questioD  of  woman's  entry  into  regular  medicine. 
The  subject  was  intimately  associated  \vh  h  the  various  sociological 
movements  of  ili<'  day,  and  was  <>niv  incidentally  connected  with 
the  ii«'M  of  Obstetrics.  Ii  seemed  chiefly  to  arise  from  the  desire 
of  women  for  a  Larger  Seld  of  activity.  The  first  woman  to  gradu- 
ate in  this  country  was  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  a  student  <»t  Dr. 
William  Elder  of  Philadelphia,  in  is  is.  she  was  allowed  to  gradu- 
ate from  Geneva  Medical  College,  in  the  State  of  Now  York,  as  an 
experiment,  but  other  women  wore  refused  the  next  year.  Women 
then  made  application  to  the  various  institutions  in  Philadelphia  in 
1849,  but  without  success.  The  demand  was  met  by  Dr.  Henry 
Gibbons,  Dr.  J.  A.  Birkey,  W.J.Mullen,  Robert  P.  Kane  and  John 
Longstretb  securing  a  charter  <>n  March  11,  1850,  for  the  Female 
Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  with  a  Board  of  Trustees  headed 
by  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes.  The  faculty  secured  were  Dr.  X.  R. 
Mosely  for  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  Dr.  James  F.  X.  Mc(  Jloskey,  dean, 
for  the  chair  of  Practice,  Dr.  C.  W.  Gleason  for  the  chair  of  Surgery, 
Dr.  Joseph  P.  Longshore  for  the  chair  of  Obstetrics,  Dr.  \Y.  W. 
Diekeson  for  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica,  and  Dr.  A.  D.  Chaloner 
for  the  chair  of  Chemistry.  They  began  their  lectures  on  tic  12th 
of  October  in  the  buildings  at  the  rear  of  627  Arch  street  il),  which 
the  Homeopathists  had  occupied,  and  at  once  enrolled  a  class  .>!' 
forty  students.  From  this  number  eight  were  graduated  at  the 
first  commencement,  which  was  held  on  December  30,  1851,  at 
Musical  Fund  Hall;  the  names  of  these  first  graduates  from  the 
first  woman's  medical  college  in  the  world  must  always  remain  of 
the  greatest  historical  interest.  Six  were  from  Pennsylvania, 
namely,  Ann  Preston,  Susanna  II.  Ellis,  Anna  M.  Longshore,  Han- 
nah E.  Longshore,  Phoebe  M.  Way  ami  Frances  G.  Mitchell;  one 
from  New  York,  Angenette  A.  Hunt,  and  one  from  Massachusetts. 
Martha  A.  Sa  win.  Of  these  the  most  interesting  to  the  city  ami  t  he 
school  was  Ann  Preston,  a  Friend,  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  born 
in  1813  in  West  drove,  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  She  had 
already  lectured  to  women  on  Physiology  and  Hygiene  in  various 


di    2,_>a  Arch  was  ii--  « >1«1  numbering. 


182  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

cities  before  entering  this  school,  and,  after  receiving  her  medical 
degree,  continued  her  studies.  In  1852  she  was  called  to  the  chair 
of  Physiology  and  Hygiene,  and  thus  became  the  first  woman 
professor  in  a  medical  college  in  this  country.  The  next  year,  there 
entered  another  student.  Elizabeth  Horton  Cleveland,  who  was 
graduated  in  1855,  and  took  an  advanced  course  of  study  in  Europe 
in  order  to  obtain  clinical  advantages  for  the  proposed  college  hos- 
pital, which  became  a  necessity  on  account  of  the  difficulty  women 
found  in  securing  entry  to  Philadelphia  hospitals.  At  the  close  of 
the  session  of  1856-7  she  was  chosen  for  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  with 
which  she  had  been  associated  since  the  previous  spring,  and  these 
two  women,  one  the  dauntless  pioneer,  and  the  other  the  skilled 
operator  and  administrator,  carried  the  institution  through  its 
long  period  of  struggle  against  obstacles  within  and  without,  and 
eventually  brought  it  the  success  which  is  now  historical  (m).  In 
that  day.  the  woman's  movement  was  considered  almost  as  unpar- 
donable an  innovation  as  exclusive  systems  were,  and  indeed  the 
followers  of  new  medical  theories  were  more  favorable  to  woman 
than  was  the  regular  school  of  medicine.  In  consequence,  some  of 
the  first  friends  of  the  woman's  movement  were  among  those  who 
were  not  calculated  to  enhance  its  reputation.  The  woman's 
college  strove  to  avoid  this  tendency  and  determined  to  raise  the 
institution  to  the  highest  medical  standard  of  the  conservative 
schools  and  put  it  largely  under  the  management  of  women.  This 
soon  resulted  in  a  complete  change  in  its  faculty  and  management, 
and  by  1853  Dr.  Preston  became  the  veritable  founder  of  the  con- 
servative woman's  college  of  to-day.  In  that  year  some  of  those 
founders  of  this  school,  who  had  withdrawn  from  it,  conceived  the 
plan  of  an  institution  that  should  solve  all  the  difficulties  of  the 
times  by  teaching  every  system  to  both  sexes.  They  secured  a  char- 
ter in  1853  under  the  name  Penn  Medical  University  (n),  and  opened 

im.i    Dr.  Preston  died  in  1872  and  Dr.  Cleveland  in  1878.     Other  notable  names 
of  later  date  are  Dr.   Bacbael  L.   Bodley.   Dr.   Frances  E.   White,   Dr.   Anna  E. 
Broomall,  Dr.  Clara  Marshall.  Dr.  Anna  M.  Fullerton,  and  others.     The  name  of 
.  the  school  became  the  Woman's  Medical  College  in  1867. 

(n)  The  charter  of  this  school,  and  of  the  Eclectic,  were  bought  some  time  later, 
and  a  "College"  was  started  under  the  name  Philadelphia  University  of  Medicine 
and  Surgery.  Several  institutions,  with  the  same  "University,"  later  became 
involved  in  trouble  about  bogus  diplomas,  issued  by  one  or  two  of  them. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  188 

.a  course  of  lectures  in  a  building  on  the  north  side  of  Markel  street, 
above  Eleventh.  It  was  the  last  effort  of  the  period  to  create  new 
medical  colleges,  and  it  had  a  spasmodic  existence  even  down  t<» 
tli<-  decade  after  the  civil  war.  lis  career  serves  t<»  illustrate  some 
of  the  extreme  tendencies  of  that  period,  and  the  movements  that 
were  shifting  and  reshifting  to  settle  the  stums  of  medical  ethics, 
educational  standards,  woman  In  medicine  and  exclusive  systems. 
These  movements  were  by  n<>  means  peculiar  to  Philadelphia, 
alt  hough  on  account  of  her  pre-eminence  in  medieal  education  they 
were  concentrate.!  here.  The  bearing  of  all  these  elements  on  the 
question  of  medical  ethics  was  first  brought  to  the  public  attention  of 
the  profession  as  early  as  1S41  in  the  Stale  Medical  Society  of  New 
York,  by  which  date  the  medical  colleges  of  the  laud  had  almost 
doubled  in  number  in  little  over  a  dozen  years.  The  private  school 
system,  inaugurated  by  Dr.  Chapman  in  1817,  while  it  had,  in  a 
measure,  succeeded  in  supplying  the  deficiencies  of  the  short  courses 
of  that  day,  had  also  opened  a  gate  for  an  indiscriminate  uprising 
of  medical  institutions  of  any  sort  or  character.  These  great  prob- 
lems were  of  so  important  a  nature  that,  in  the  New  York  Society 
of  that  year,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  secured  a  motion  to  call  a  national 
convention  to  consider  them.  A  preliminary  convention  was  held 
in  New  York  in  1846,  of  which  Drs.  John  Bell  and  Alfred  Stille  of 
Philadelphia  were  vice-president  and  secretary,  respectively.  Two 
of  the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  proposed  national  associa- 
tion, among  Philadelphians,  were  Drs.  Stille  and  Samuel  Jackson, 
although  the  only  college  in  the  city  which  responded  to 
the  invitation  to  join  the  preliminary  organization  in  New 
York,  was  McClellan's  second  school,  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  College.  On  the  5th  of  May,  1S47,  Dr. 
Isaac  Hays,  chairman  of  the  Philadelphia  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments, welcomed  at  the  old  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  now  a 
part  of  the  Lafayette  Hotel,  representatives  of  forty  medical  soci- 
eties and  twenty-eight  colleges,  assembled  to  organize  the  American 
Medical  Association.  It  is  not  the  place  here  to  enter  into  a  history 
of  the  Association,  but  only  to  note  those  elements  that  bear  upon 
the  peculiar  development  of  the  profession  of  Philadelphia.    The 


184  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

report  on  Medical  Ethics  was  presented  by  Drs.  Hajs  and  Bell  and 
adopted;  higher  educational  standards  were  recommended  to  the 
colleges,  and  the  constitution  was  so  framed  as  to  invariably  secure 
a  majority  of  the  delegates  from  permanent  state  and  county  soci- 
eties. The  latter  provision  was  intended  to  animate  and  encourage 
state  and  county  organization,  and  ultimately  limit  the  member- 
ship to  such  bodies.  These  were  features  that  at  once  showed 
Philadelphia's  leadership  of  the  conservative  element.  Dr.  Isaac 
Hays  proposed  a  more  exclusive  form  of  organization,  but  it  was 
defeated.  The  convention  then  resolved  itself  into  the  American 
Medical  Association,  with  the  venerable  chief  of  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chapman, 
as  president,  Dr.  Alfred  Stille  as  one  of  the  two  secretaries,  and 
Dr.  Isaac  Hays  as  treasurer. 

The  effect  of  this  gathering  was  to  stimulate  interest  in  all 
branches  of  medicine  in  Philadelphia,  and  especially  in  the  purpose 
to  elevate  educational  standards,  the  University  being  the  first  of 
the  schools  to  begin  the  movement.  The  most  marked  result  was 
the  assembling  of  physicians  of  the  city  and  county  on  December 
11,  1848,  in  the  Hall  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  with  Dr.  Samuel 
Jackson,  late  of  Northumberland,  as  chairman,  and  Dr.  D.  Francis 
Condie  as  secretary,  to  form  a  county  medical  society.  The  old 
Philadelphia  Medical  Society  had  ceased  to  exist  two  years  before,  in 
1846,  and  on  January  16,  1849,  it  was  replaced  by  the  Philadelphia 
County  Medical  Society,  and  its  first  officers,  then  chosen,  were  Dr. 
Samuel  Jackson  (o),  as  president;  Drs.  John  F.  Lamb  and  Isaac 
Parrish,  as  vice-presidents ;  Dr.  D.  Francis  Condie,  recording  secre- 
tary; Dr.  Henry  S.  Patterson,  corresponding  secretary;  Dr.  William 
Byrd  Page,  treasurer,  and  Drs.  Joseph  Warrington,  Thomas  H. 
Yardley,  William  Mayburry,  Wilson  Jewell  and  Thomas  F.  Betton 
as  censors.  This  society,  on  account  of  its  connection  with  the  state 
and  national  bodies,  at  once  assumed  a  semi-official  standing 
wholly  unlike  the  old  society,  and  in  that  respect  more  like  the 
College  of  Physicians,  although  these  two  organizations  had  differ- 

(o)    Dr.  Jackson  was  spoken  of  as  'iate  of  Northumberland,"  his  former  resi- 
dence, in  order  to  distinguish  him  from  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson  of  the  University. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  185 

imii  aims.  Prom  this  time  onward  these  were  the  two  greal  Bemi- 
official  medical  bodies  in  Philadelphia,  the  County  Society  the  gen- 
eral one  ami  tin-  College  of  Plivsirians  more  Limited  in  member- 
ship ami  representing  the  more  conservative  element,  although 
membership  was  frequently  held  in  both.  It  was  in  L858  that  the 
County  Society  firsl  acted  upon  the  question  of  woman  in  m<  -<li«-  ine. 
Owing  to  ili»'  general  feeling  on  the  subject,  it  was  decided  ma  i<. 
countenance  women  as  regular  physicians,  and  the  following  year 
secured  the  same  action  in  the  State  Society.  An  interesting  pi<  - 
tureof  the  profession  of  thai  day  and  of  ilm  society's  relation  i"  LI  Ls 
given  as  follows: 

"When  the  meetings  of  the  society  adjourned  in  L848,"  says 
Dr.  Joli n  B.  Roberts,  in  liis  closing  address  to  ilm  County  Medical 
Society  in  ist>2,  descriptive  of  the  medical  activity  of  thai  period, 
"the  members  trudged  on  fool  to  their  homes  in  Mulberry,  Sassa- 
fras or  Schuylkill  Eighth  (p)  streets,  or  possibly  took  an  omnibus 
of  the  old  style,  since  streel  cars  were  unknown.  They  doubtless 
felt  secure,  however  late  the  adjournment,  as  they  me1  on  the  cor- 
ner an  occasional  watchman  calling  the  hour  of  the  nighl  and  the 
state  of  the  weather.  At  this  time  the  Penn  squares,  at  Broad  and 
Market  streets,  recently  the  site  of  the  waterworks,  had  been  laid 
out  and  were  expected  soon  to  become  ornamental  parks.  Now  the 
site  of  these  expected  parks  is  unknown  to  the  childrenwho  exercise 
with  roller  skates  on  the  pavement  of  the  public  buildings,  and 
chase  each  other  about  the  Reynolds  statue.  The  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  had  in  its  faculty  Chap- 
man, Hare,  Gibson,  Horner,  Jackson,  ( leorge  B.  Wood,  H.L.  1  lodge, 
James  B.  Rogers  and  George  W.  Norris.  This  medical  school  had 
just  increased  its  sessions  to  five  and  a  half  months,  in  order  t<» 
elevate  the  standard  of  education  ami  to  show  disapproval  of  the 
short  four  months'  session,  usual  in  the  medical  colleges  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  winter  «»!'  1  S4!»  and  1850  the  course  was  made 
six  months — from  October  1st  to  the  end  of  March:  and  in  order  to 
compensate  for  the  increased  expense  to  the  students  fur  board, 

the  fees   for  lectures   were  reduced.      I "nfort unately   this   advance 
(p)    The  former  names  for  streets  From  Schuylkill  to  Broad. 


186  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

was  not  adopted  by  other  schools,  and  in  1852-3  the  six  months' 
session  was  discontinued  and  a  shorter  course  adopted.  The  fac- 
ulty of  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  at  Tenth  and  Sansom  streets, 
contained  the  well-known  teachers — Dunglison,  Huston,  Joseph 
Pancoast,  J.  K.  Mitchell,  Mutter,  Charles  D.  Meigs  and  Bache. 
This  school,  in  1848-9,  increased  its  session  from  four  months  to 
four  and  a  half  months.  The  Pennsylvania  Medical  College,  or  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  College,  erected  in  1849 
the  building  now  called  Peabody  Hotel,  on  the  west  side  of  Ninth 
street  below  Locust,  which  was  subsequently  occupied  by  one  of 
the  notorious  institutions  issuing  bogus  diplomas.  Here  were 
teaching  at  the  time  of  the  founding  of  our  society,  Drs.  Darrach, 
Wiltbank,  Patterson,  Grant,  David  Gilbert  and  Washington  L. 
Atlee.  The  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  chartered  in  1847, 
was,  in  1848-9,  situated  on  the  west  side  of  Fifth  street  below  Wal- 
nut. The  members  of  the  faculty  were  James  McClintock,  Gibbons, 
Savory,  Kennedy,  Vandyke,  Cox  and  W.  W.  Dickson.  This  school 
gave  twb  courses  in  each  year,  graduating  students  not  only  in 
March,  but  also  in  the  early  part  of  July.  At  this  time  the  Franklin 
Medical  College  was  in  operation  on  the  north  side  of  Locust  street, 
above  Eleventh,  in  a  building  erected  originally  by  the  Medical 
Institute,  and  torn  doAvn  only  two  or  three  years  ago  for  improve- 
ments in  the  neighborhood.  Its  faculty  consisted  of  Goddard,  Van 
Wyck,  Tucker,  John  B.  Biddle,  Page,  Jaynes  and  Bridges.  The 
present  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  was  founded 
in  1849,  with  a  charter  from  the  Legislature  similar  to  that  of  the 
Franklin  Medical  College.  Its  first  course  of  lectures  was  given  in 
1850-51.  It  was  situated  on  Arch  street.  The  Homeopathic  Medical 
College,  the  predecessor  of  the  present  Hahnemann  Medical  Col- 
lege, was  instituted  in  1846,  and  occupied,  in  the  days  of  which 
we  speak,  a  structure  on  the  north  side  of  Filbert  street,  above 
Eleventh,  on  part  of  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Beading  terminal 
station.  The  Eclectic  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  was  char- 
tered in  1850,  and  in  1852  was  situated  on  Haines  street  west  of 
Sixth.  The  Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy  was  on  College  Ave- 
nue (later  called  Chant  street,  and  running  alongside  of  St.  Ste- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  181 

((lien's  Episcopal  Church,  between  .Market  and  Chestnut  streets), 
cast  of  Tenth.    H  was  occupied  as  a  private  school  of  anatomy  by 

Joseph  M.  Allen,  who,  in  is.".!*,  gave  up  the  school,  ii  was  then 
occupied  by  Dr.  I >.  Mayes  Agnew,  whose  success  as  a  teacher  is 
well  known  to  the  present  generation.  Dr.  Agnew  was  followed 
by  Dr.  (iarretson,  Dr.  Andrews,  Dr.  Button  and  Dr.  Keen.  Dr. 
Keen  relinquished  the  school  in  1875  at  the  time  the  U.  B.  Postoffice 
took  its  rise  from  the  old  site  of  the  demolished  buildings  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  Subsequently  the  school  was  revived 
by  Dr.  Boisuot  in  Hunter  si  reef,  above  Tenth,  and  between  Market 
and  Filbert  streets.  Here  I  subsequently  became  its  proprietor, 
teaching  anatomy  and  operative  surgery.  From  the  lectures  given 
there  by  me  and  my  associates  was  developed  the  post-grad  uat<- 
school  on  Lombard  street,  above  Eighteenth,  known  to  you  as  the 
Philadelphia  Polyclinic  and  College  for  Graduates  in  Medicine.  It 
is  interesting  to  remember  that  at  this  time  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  had  an  Obstetric  Department,  under  the  care  of  Drs.  n.  L. 
Hodge  and  Joseph  ('arson;  that  the  Wills  Eye  Hospital,  on  Race 
street,  the  Blockley  or  Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  St.  Joseph's 
Hospital  were  in  active  operation;  and  that  the  Preston  Retreat, 
recentl}7  built,  was  being  used  by  the  Foster  Home  because  the 
funds  of  the  Preston  estate  were  not  available,  being  in  the  Schuyl- 
kill Navigation  Company's  stock.  The  Friends'  Asylum,  on  Walnut 
street  below  Fourth,  was  still  in  existence,  but  probably  had  very 
few  patients,  while  the  City  Hospital  at  Bush  Hill,  Schuylkill 
Fourth  and  Coates  streets,  was  a  pest  hospital,  ever  ready,  but 
seldom  occupied  by  patients.  The  College  of  Physicians  was  then 
holding  its  meetings  in  the  so-called  Picture  House  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital,  on  Spruce  stree^  above  Eighth,  whence  it  removed 
in  1803  to  Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets,  to  the  building  in  which 
we  now  meet.  In  April,  1851,  a  committee  of  the  Philadelphia 
County  Medical  Society  reported  that  the  whole  number  of  prac- 
titioners of  all  kinds  in  the  county,  so  far  as  could  be  ascertained, 
was  582.  Its  report  says:  'Of  these  397  are  physicians — regular 
practitioners,  42  homeopaths,  30  Thompsonians,  2  hydropaths,  32 


188  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

advertising  doctors,  37  practitioners  of  medicine  and  druggists,  and 
42  nondescripts  or  unascertained.'  " 

In  the  midst  of  the  changes  in  the  profession  of  Philadelphia 
the  strong  conservative  elements  behind  them  were  the  University 
faculty,  headed  by  Chapman  down  to  1850,  and  the  able  Jefferson 
men,  known  as  the  faculty  of  1841,  both  of  which  groups  had  long: 
periods  of  freedom  from  change,  the  one  for  twelve  years  and  the 
other  for  fifteen.  The  decade  of  the  "forties"  was  a  period  of  great 
and  evenly  balanced  power  in  these  two  great  schools,  and  if  there 
were  years  of  dominant  good  fortune  in  the  University  in  the 
decade  preceding  this  one,  probably  the  same  might  be  said  for 
Jefferson  in  the  decade  following.  For  the  University,  the  year 
1835  was  the  beginning  of  her  dozen  years  without  change  in  the 
faculty.  It  included  at  that  date  Dr.  Nathaniel  Chapman  in  the 
chair  of  Practice,  Dr.  William  Gibson  in  the  chair  of  Surgery,  Dr. 
William  E.  Horner  in  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson 
in  the  chair  of  the  Institutes,  Dr.  George  B.  Wood  in  the  chair  of 
Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy,  Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge  in  the  chair  of 
Obstetrics,  and  Dr.  Robert  Hare  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry.  Most 
of  these  men  had  been  connected  with  the  faculty  since  as  early 
as  1819,  when  Physick  and  Gibson  took  the  chairs  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery.  With  them  had  been  Dr.  William  P.  Dewees,  whom 
ill  health,  unfortunately  for  the  institution,  compelled  to  resign 
in  the  year  1835,  when,  as  has  been  said  above,  began  a  long  period 
of  immunity  from  change.  Many  of  the  elements  of  strength  were 
present  before  that  time;  but  nothing  takes  the  place  of  unity  and 
esprit  de  corps  in  a  faculty,  and  it  is  probable  that  these  became 
strongest  in  1835.  This  was  also  a  period  of  literary  activity;  the 
text-books  of  the  land  were  those  produced  by  the  faculties  of  the 
University  and  of  Jefferson. 

Dr.  William  P.  Dewees,  who  resigned  in  1835,  was  a  Pennsyl- 
vanian  of  Swedish  lineage,  born  in  1768,  at  Pottsgrove.  He  began 
the  study  of  medicine  at  an  early  date  with  a  practicing  apothe- 
cary, and  afterwards  had  Dr.  William  Smith  of  Philadelphia  as  his 
preceptor.  He  graduated  from  the  University  Medical  School  in 
1789,  and  settled  at  Abington,  about  fourteen  miles  north  of  the 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  I8fl 

city,  lie  was  drawn  to  Philadelphia  practice  by  the  Deeds  of  the 
fatal  epidemic  of  17!>.">,  and  soon  attracted  the  attention  ol  hi- 
Rush  and  Physick.  Here  In-  determined  on  Obstetrics  as  \\\>  espe- 
cial field,  began  a  private  course  of  lectures  on  the  subject,  and 
was  strongly  recommended  for  thai  chair  in  L810.  Ill  health  com- 
pelled lil 1 1 i  to  withdraw  to  country  life  for  five  years,  and  hi  1>I7. 
when  he  returned,  he  soon  became  associated  with  Drs.  Chapman 
and  Horner  in  Chapman's  private  instruction.  Prom  ihis  time  he 
became  an  authority  on  Obstetrics.  His  "Practical  Observations 
on  Midwifery"  became  known  over  the  world,  and  was  followed  by 
his  systematic  works.  In  1825  he  became  adjuncl  professor  to  the 
chair  of  Obstetrics  in  the  University,  and  on  account  of  the  ill 
health  of  Dr.  James,  he  was  the  practical  occupant  of  that  chair  for 
almost  ten  years,  when  he  succeeded  him.  An  accident  in  1834 
practically  closed  his  career;  he  resigned  in  1835,  and,  after  travel 
and  other  means  of  restoration,  died  in  1841,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  seventy-three. 

With  Dewees,  in  Dr.  Chapman's  private  faculty,  was  another 
notable  figure,  who  succeeded  Physick  as  Dewees  did  James.  This 
was  Dr.  William  E.  Horner,  twenty-live  years  younger  than 
Dewees,  born  at.  Warrenton,  Virginia,  in  17!K>.  Dr.  Horner  was  a 
man  of  intense  intellectual  life  in  a  frail  body;  to  his  ardor  and 
ambition  was  joined  a  faculty  for  details  and  mechanism  thai  made 
Anatomy  his  choice,  lie  came  of  English  stock,  was  educated 
under  a  private  tutor,  the  Rev.  Charles  O'Neill,  a  graduate  of  both 
Trinity  College  (Dublin)  and  Oxford.  Under  his  direction  Dr.  Hor- 
ner continued  until  L809,  when  he  began  work  in  medicine  under 
Dr.  John  Spence  of  Dumfries.  With  him  he  studied  three  years, 
and  had  two  sessions  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Medical 
School,  when  the  war  of  1812  led  him  to  secure  a  commission  as  sur- 
geon's mate  in  the  Government  service,  July  3,1S13.  After  spending 
a  short  time  at  the  University,  early  in  1814,  in  order  to  graduate, 
he  had  an  extensive  experience  in  Canada  and  in  the  hospitals  at 
Buffalo,  until  the  spring  of  1815.  Returning  to  Warrenton,  he 
soon  became  satisfied  that  he  was  tit  ted  for  larger  things  than  a 
country  practice,  and,  no  doubt,  inspired  by  the  successes  of  Yir- 


190  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ginians  like  Chapman  and  Hartshorne,  he  resolved  to  try  his  pow- 
ers in  the  great  medical  metropolis  of  the  continent.  "The  Rubicon 
is  passed,"  he  wrote  in  his  journal.  "I  have  forsaken  my  friends 
and  my  practice  and  am  now  on  my  way  to  Philadelphia  to  seek 
my  fortunes.  I  have  put  all  at  hazard.  Oh,  thou  Father  everlast- 
ing, be  propitious  to  my  cause!"  This  was  in  1816,  and  he  was  but 
twenty-three.  The  following  spring  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  the  office  of  dissector  to  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  and  aid  to  Dr. 
Chapman  in  his  private  work.  He  was  successively  assistant  to 
both  Wistar  and  Dorsey,  and  on  the  death  of  the  latter,  in  1819, 
became  adjunct  professor  of  Anatomy  to  Dr.  Physick.  His  health 
was  still  poor,  but  his  strong  will  upheld  him  until  1821,  when  he 
spent  a  year  abroad.  Returning  much  improved,  he  entered  upon 
the  most  successful  work  of  his  life.  Like  Wistar,  he  made  great 
use  of  models  and  other  illustrative  means,  that  became  important 
additions  to  what  is  now  known  as  the  W'istar  and  Horner  Museum 
of  the  University.  After  fifteen  years,  on  Dr.  Physick's  death  in 
1837,  he  succeeded  to  the  full  chair.  He  had  scarcely  received  this 
appointment  when  the  great  cholera  epidemic  of  1832  caused  him 
to  offer  his  services  to  take  charge  of  a  hospital."  He  published 
his  work  on  Anatomy,  made  some  anatomical  discoveries,  espe- 
cially relating  to  the  eye,  and,  although  not  a  brilliant  lecturer,, 
was  a  most  successful  instructor  of  hundreds  of  appreciative  stu- 
dents. His  work  continued,  with  some  interruptions,  almost  until 
his  death  in  March,  1853,  the  same  year  that  Dr.  Chapman  died. 

Two  years  later  the  faculty  lost  another  of  the  Southern  mem- 
bers of  the  old  faculty.  This  was  the  gifted  Baltimorean,  Dr. 
William  Gibson,  LL.  D.,  the  successor  of  Physick  in  Surgery  in 
1819.  He  was  but  thirty-one  when  he  was  called  from  the  chair 
of  Surgery  in  the  University  of  Maryland,  of  which  he  was  one 
of  the  earliest  promoters.  Born  in  1788,  in  Baltimore,  he  was  edu- 
cated at  St.  John's  College,  Annapolis,  and  later  in  Princeton.  His 
medical  studies  were  begun  under  Dr.  John  Owen  of  Baltimore, 
and  after  one  course  of  lectures  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  1806,  he  went  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  attended  lectures  and 
studied  under  the  direction  of  John  Bell.  Graduating  in  1809,  with 


IX    PHILADELPHIA.  101 

;i  thesis  on  a  phase  of  ethnology  thai  attracted  much  attention,  be 
wcni  to  London  and  had  a  most  extensive  acquaintance  with  prom- 
inent men  and  events,  which  were  afterward  described  in  a 
literary  style  that  was  one  of  his  chief  characteristics.  Among 
these  men  were  Sir  Charles  Bell,  in  whose  family  he  was  a  private 

pupil,  Aiiei-nethv  and  Sir  Astley  Cooper,  to  mention  only  medical 

names,  and  it  was  here  thai  he  had  exceptional  opportunities  for 
observation  of  the  wounded  of  Waterloo,  lie  returned  t"  Balti- 
niorein  1810,  and  two  years  later  joined  the  new  medical  stall  of  the 
University  of  Maryland  in  the  chair  of  Surgery,  where  he  at  once 
distinguished  himself.  He  also  had  experience  in  the  war  of  1812, 
as  did  Ids  colleague,  Dr.  Horner.  His  service  was  that  of  surgeon 
in  the  militia  of  that  state,  in  1814,  when  the  British  made  their 
attack  on  Baltimore.  Seven  years  of  brilliant  work  as  a  lecturer 
there,  resulted  in  his  being  chosen  successor  to  Dr.  Physick,  when, 
in  1819,  the  latter  was  transferred  to  the  chair  vacated  by  Dorseys 
death.  "As  a  lecturer,"  says  one  writer,  "he  was  clear  and 
emphatic;  his  voice  was  distinct  and  melodious;  his  language  was 
well  chosen,  and  his  style  of  enunciation  was  attractive.  His 
demonstrations  of  surgical  anatomy  were  readily  comprehended 
by  the  student;  some  of  them  especially,  as  those  in  connection 
with  the  neck,  with  hernia  and  with  lithotomy,  could  not  be  sur- 
passed in  lucid  exposition.  For  purposes  of  demonstration.  Dr. 
Gibson  had  himself  prepared  and  procured  by  purchase  an  ample 
collection  of  morbid  structures,  diseased  and  fractured,  bones, 
models  and  casts,  as  well  as  pictures  of  large  size,  illustrative  of 
disease,  or  of  the  anatomical  parts  of  the  body  involved  in  opera- 
tions. To  these  were  added  the  approved  mechanical  appliances 
of  the  day.  In  this  teaching  he  has  set  the  example  that  has  been 
followed  extensively  by  other  surgeons.''  Dr.  Gibson  had  the  unu- 
sual experience  of  successfully  performing  the  Cesarean  section 
twice,  and  successfully,  on  the  same  person.  Ilis  thief  scientific 
publication  was  an  outline  work  on  surgery  that  was  widely  used, 
although  his  skillful  pen  was  freely  used  aside  from  that.  He  was 
an  extensive  traveler  and  a  man  of  varied  accomplishments  in 
music  and  other  tine  arts,  and  was  one  of  those  who  easily  win 


192  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  friendship  of  the  great  men  of  the  world.  After  thirty-six 
years  of  service  in  the  chair  made  famous  by  Physick,  he  resigned 
in  1855,  and  became  Emeritus  Professor  of  Surgery,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-seven.  He  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  spent  his  remaining 
years  in  retirement,  finally  making  his  home  in  Savannah,  Georgia, 
where  he  died  in  1868,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty. 

Dr.  Eobert  Hare  was  called  as  Professor  of  Chemistry  from  a 
Virginia  institution,  in  the  same  year  that  Gibson  came  from 
Baltimore.  Dr.  Hare  was  not  a  Southerner,  however,  as  were  Chap- 
man, Horner  and  Gibson,  but  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1781, 
and  early  became  interested  in  Chemistry,  which  he  and  Silliman 
studied  under  Dr.  Woodhouse  in  the  University.  It  was  in  1801, 
at  the  age  of  twenty,  that  he  invented  the  oxy-hydrogen  bloAV-pipe, 
and  won  the  Rumford  medal  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences.  Dr.  Hare  expected  to  succeed  Woodhouse  in  1809.  but 
soon  went  to  William  and  Mary  College,  Virginia,  as  professor  of 
Chemistry,  whence  he  was  called  ten  years  later  to  Philadelphia. 
Here  he  spent  twenty-seven  years  of  most  notable  work  as  a  philo- 
sophical and  practical  chemist  and  instructor.  Harvard  had  given 
him  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  three  years  before, 
and  his  extensive  researches  and  inventions  in  electrical  and  other 
fields  made  his  name  famous.  Indeed,  Faraday,  after  exhausting 
every  experiment,  finally  adopted  Dr.  Hare's  deflagrator,  an  elec- 
tric heater  also  producing  light,  as  the  best  that  was  possible  at 
that  date,  1835.  The  scientific  apparatus  invented  by  Hare  was 
extensive  and  so  valuable  that  it  was  presented  to  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  at  his  decease.  Pharmacy  and  Toxicology  are  deeply 
indebted  to  his  researches,  as  are  many  other  fields  of  applied 
chemistry.  He  was  brilliant  in  experiment  and  lecture,  and  had 
won  an  enviable  position  when  he  resigned  in  1847,  making  a  first 
break  in  the  faculty  of  '35,  after  its  twelve  years  of  continuity. 
He  died  in  1858  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  and  if  he  had  done 
nothing  else,  his  contribution  of  the  oxy-hydrogen  instrument 
would  have  made  his  name  one  of  the  first  in  chemical  annals. 

The  two  new  members  of  the  faculty  of  '35  were  Drs.  George  B. 
Wood  and  Hugh  L.  Hodge,  who  held  chairs  in  the  school  for 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  ]:.:; 

twenty-five  and  twenty-eight  years  respectively.  Dr.  Wood  was  a 
Dative  of  New  Jersey,  of  Quaker  parentage,  born  ;ii  Greenwich, 
in  1T!>7,  so  thai  he  \\;is  thirty-eight  years  of  age  when  he  entered 
the  faculty.  Educated  in  his  preparatory  work  in  New  York,  where 
he  evinced  signs  of  the  remarkable  ability  through  winch  in- 
achieved  such  great  distinction,  he  came  to  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  graduated  from  the  Collegiate  Department  with  high 
honors  in  1815.  He  at  once  began  the  siinly  of  medicine  with  J  >r. 
Parrish,  as  has  been  noticed  before,  and  graduated  with  such  stand- 
ing from  the  University  Medical  School  in  1818  that  Dr.  Parrish 
secured  him  as  assistant  in  his  private  medical  school.  Here  he 
developed  those  enlightened  views  upon  medical  ethics  and  prac- 
tice that  became  so  important  an  influence  in  American  medicine. 
He  was  a  man  of  slow  but  sure  growth,  and  his  power  as  a  lec- 
turer on  Chemistry  was  such  that  in  1821  he  was  called  to  thai 
(hair  in  the  new  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  the  following  year  was 
transferred  to  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica.  During  nine  years  of 
work  in  that  department,  nine  months  of  which  were  spent  with 
Drs.  Hewson  and  Bache  in  preparing  the  National  Pharmacopoeia 
tor  the  press,  Dr.  Wood  plainly  became  the  man  for  the  chair  of 
Materia  Medica  in  the  University  in  1835.  It  is  one  of  the  happy 
features  of  the  histories  of  the  University  and  Jefferson  that  work 
on  this  pharmacopoeia  ripened  a  professional  friendship  between 
their  two  great  representatives,  Wood  of  the  faculty  of  ::.">  and 
I.ache  of  the  Jefferson  faculty  of  '41,  which  resulted  in  that  joint 
monument  of  the  two  men,  the  United  States  Dispensatory.  Dur- 
ing the  next  fifteen  years  Dr.  Wood  completely  modernized  his 
department.  "His  courses  of  lectures  upon  Materia  Medica,"  writes 
Dr.  Hartshorne,  "may  be  truly  said  to  have  been  splendid,  almost 
magnificent;  adorned  as  well  as  made  complete  for  the  students' 
information  by  the  exhibition,  from  day  to  day,  of  living  specimens 
of  plants  from  all  quarters  of  the  world,  grown  in  his  own  private 
conservatory  and  botanical  garden,  maintained  for  this  special  pur- 
pose. When  such  could  not  at  the  time  be  obtained,  fine  pictorial 
representations  were  place. 1  before  the  class  in  their  stead;  and  his 

cabinet  of  mineral  and  other  crude  and  prepared  specimens  was 
13 


194  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

correspondingly  complete.  A  printed  syllabus  of  the  course  of  lec- 
tures, interleaved  for  note-taking,  was  furnished  gratuitously  by 
him  to  each  student.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  that  no  portion  of 
the  curriculum  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University,  able 
and  renowned  as  have  been  the  other  members  of  its  faculty,  ever 
added  more  to  the  great,  reputation  and  large  classes  of  that 
institution  than  this  model  course."  His  "Practice  of  Medicine," 
issued  in  1847,  was  widely  adopted  as  a  text-book.  He  was  the 
successor  of  Dr.  Chapman  in  1S50,  on  the  resignation  of  the  latter. 
While  in  the  chair  of  Practice,  which  he  held  for  ten  years,  he 
also  issued  a  treatise  on  Therapeutics  and  Pharmacology.  Dr. 
Wood  was  a  most  erudite,  fresh  and  balanced  medical  scholar. 
His  mind  was  systematic  and  infused  with  the  modern  historical 
method.  His  local  and  larger  historical  works,  such  as  the  history 
of  the  University  and  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  a  history  of 
Materia  Medica,  and  others,  are  excellent  illustrations  of  this  qual- 
ity. He  was  a  leader  in  nearly  all  the  learned,  scientific  and  pro- 
fessional societies  at  home,  and  honored  by  many  of  those  abroad. 
Princeton  gave  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  and  in  his  varied 
travels  abroad  he  was  greatly  honored,  while  he  did  much  to  fur- 
ther the  scientific  plans  of  societies  in  America.  He  died  in  1879, 
nearly  nineteen  years  after  his  resignation,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty- 
two,  one  of  those  of  whom  he  himself  said: 

"Everywhere  they  sov\- 
Tlie  seeds  of  truth,  which,  spirit-nurtured,  stow 
To  a  rich  harvest. " 

Dr.  Wood's  colleague  of  '35,  Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge,  came  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  Presbyterian  families,  his  brother  being 
the  eminent  theologian  of  Princeton,  Dr.  Charles  Hodge.  The 
founder  of  the  family,  a  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian,  settled  on  Water 
street  in  1730,  and  it  was  his  son,  Dr.  Hugh  Hodge,  who  studied 
medicine  under  Dr.  Thomas  Cadwalader,  and  to  whom  was  born,  in 
1796,  a  more  famous  son,  Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge.  Educated  at  board- 
ing-schools, he  entered  Princeton  in  1811  as  a  sophomore,  and  in 
three  years  graduated  with  the  highest  honors.  He  was  eighteen 
when  he  entered  Dr.  Caspar  Wi star's  office,  and  in  four  years 
received  his  medical  diploma  from  the  University.    After  two  years 


!.\   PHILADELPHIA.  195 

as  a  ship's  surgeon  on  Easl  Indian  voyages,  be  settled  on  Walnut 
street,  and  the  following  year  was  chosen  by  Dr.  Horner  to  take 
his  place  in  Dr.  Chapman's  [nstitute  during  :i  brief  absence.  In 
L823  Chapman  called  him  to  lecture  on  Surgery,  which  tie  did  with 
utmost  success.  His  favorite  studies,  Surgery  and  Anatomy,  he 
was  led  to  give  up  for  Beveral  reasons,  chief  among  them  being  bis 
weakened  vision,  so  thai  he  soon  look  the  place  of  Dr.  Dewees  in 
Obstetrical  lectures  and  joined  the  staff  of  that  departmenl  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital.  Thus,  in  1835,  he  was  the  successful  can- 
didate over  so  strong  a  man  as  Dr.  Charles  I>.  Meigs,  to  the  chair 
made  famous  by   Dewees.     He  was  a   successful   lecturer,  admired 

and  beloved  by  students.     1 1  its  work  in  obstetrics  was  especially 

notable  for  his  inventions  in  forceps  and  pessaries,  that  were  used 
the  world  over.  His  works  on  Diseases  Peculiar  to  Women  and 
on  Obstetrics  were  published  late  in  life,  the  latter  in  1863,  t  lie  year 
he  resigned  bis  professorship.  The  work  was  written  by  an  amanu- 
ensis and  with  the  aid  of  bis  son,  Dr.  II.  Lenox  Hodge,  for  bis  vision 
had  become  seriously  impaired.  In  all  things  he  was  ruggedly 
original,  conscientious,  accurate  and  clear.  His  alma  mater  hon- 
ored him,  in  1871,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws.  He  died  in 
1873  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-seven,  nearly  forty  years  alter  he 
entered  the  faculty  of  1835. 

The  last,  and,  in  one  way,  the  most  remarkable  member  of  the 
faculty  of  1835,  was  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson,  who  was  the  first  and  most 
effective  apostle  of  the  methods  and  principles  of  Laenec,  Louis 
and  the  French  school  of  medicine  that  were  the  true  sources  of  the 
scientific  methods  of  to-day.  Dr.  Jackson  was  of  an  ardent,  enthu- 
siastic temperament,  peculiarly  open  to  conviction,  active  and 
inquiring  in  mind  and  earnest  in  public  welfare.  His  teaching 
had  great  influence  from  its  warm,  fresh  and  attractive  originality; 
and  bis  keen  appreciation  of  the  pathological  importance  of  new 
ideas  regarding  organism  and  vital  force  made  him  a  leader  in 

those  directions.  Dr.  Jackson's  training  was  somewhat  like  that 
of  bis  friend  and  colleague,  Dr.  Wood.  Horn  in  L787,  in  Philadel- 
phia, the  son  of  Dr.  David  Jackson,  one  of  the  University's  first 
graduates  of   17<iS,  he  received    his  education   in    the    Collegiate 


196  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Department  of  the  University,  and  studied  medicine  under  Dr. 
James  Hutchison,  Jr.,  and  chiefly  under  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar.  After 
receiving  his  medical  degree  from  the  University  in  1808,  his  thesis 
being  on  "Suspended  Animation,"  the  death  of  his  father  and  elder 
brother  compelled  him  to  take  charge  of  his  father's  drug  business 
for  a  time.  He  soon  began  practice,  however,  and  in  1812  joined 
the  First  Troop  of  City  Cavalry  and  served  in  Maryland  until  the 
close  of  the  war  in  1815.  His  active  service  in  promotion  of  public 
sanitation  placed  him  at  the  head  of  the  Board  of  Health  early 
in  1820  and  made  him  a  great  benefactor  to  the  city  in  the  yellow 
fever  epidemic  of  that  date.  His  account  of  that  year's  scourge  is 
the  most  authoritative.  He  believed  in  its  domestic  origin  and 
non-contagiousness,  and,  in  consequence,  had  great  influence  in  pro- 
moting present-day  care  for  sanitary  vigilance.  The  epidemic  of 
1820  is  the  last  of  sltlj  importance  in  the  city.  Dr.  Jackson's  experi- 
ence in  pharmacy  led,  in  1821,  to  his  becoming  one  of  two  profess- 
ors in  the  new  College  of  Pharmacy,  he  lecturing  on  Materia  Med- 
ica  and  his  colleague,  soon  succeeded  by  Dr.  Wood,  on  Chemistry. 
Here  ripened  the  methods  and  friendship  of  these  two  remarkable 
men.  Very  soon  Dr.  Chapman  chose  Dr.  Jackson  to  lecture  in  his 
private  school,  on  Medical  Chemistry,  and,  later,  on  Materia  Medica 
and  Therapeutics,  a  position  which  he  held  until  1844.  The  next 
year,  1822,  he  also  became  one  of  the  Almshouse  Hospital  staff, 
where  he  and  Gerhard,  Pennock  and  others  were  to  do  so  much 
to  introduce  and  develop  the  methods  and  principles  of  the  French 
school.  Here  he  advanced  the  study  of  auscultation  and  percus- 
sion, the  new  methods  of  diagnosis.  "A  student  as  well  as  a  teacher 
among  students,"  says  Dr.  Carson,  and  some  of  the  first  results  of 
his  work  were  reported  in  1824.  His  clinical  lectures  inspired  large 
numbers  of  students,  and  the  profession  as  well,  to  active  study 
of  the  French  methods  in  Pathology,  and  in  1827  Dr.  Chapman 
secured  his  election  as  assistant  to  his  University  chair,  to  relieve 
him  of  the  departments  of  Clinical  Medicine  and  the  Institutes, 
which  had  hardly  been  given  adequate  treatment  since  that 
giant  in  capacity,  Rush,  had  died.  He  became  interested  in  the 
doctrine  of  Broussais,   "but,"  said  he,  "itl  is   not  all  true,   nor 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  197 

does  it   compass  all   truth,"  and   his  and    Dr.   Drake's  opposing 

views  in  the  .Medical  Society  of  L830-1  were  the  chief  features 
of  its  meetings.  It  was  the  pathological  work  of  Louis, 
however,  thai  most  attracted  him,  and  he  inspired  Gerhard,  Pen- 
nock,  Stille  and  others  t<>  go  t<>  Paris  and  study  under  the  greal 
pathologist  In  1832  Dr.  Jackson  formulated  the  besl  exposition  of 
the  new  methods  in  ;i  work  entitled  "Principles of  Medicine  founded 
on  the  Structure  and  Functions  of  1 1 1 « -  Animal  Organism,"  which 
was  the  first  work  of  its  kind  published  in  the  country.  It  was  he, 
Dr.  Charles  D.  Meigs  ami  Dr.  Richard  Harlan  who  were  chosen 
thai  year  to  investigate  The  treatment  of  cholera  at  Montreal,  ami 
on  his  return  he  had  charge  of  Hospital  No.  5,  when  the  disease 
arose  in  Philadelphia.  Dr.  Jackson  had  acted  as  assistant  to  Dr. 
Chapman  for  eight  years,  when,  in  1853,  he  accepted  the  aew  chair 
created  for  the  Institutes  and  Clinical  Medicine.  For  the  next 
twenty-eight  years  he  was  a  power  among  the  young  men  of  the 
profession;  perhaps  the  extent  of  his  influence  has  but  recently 
been  appreciated.  His  writings  were  numerous  and  bore  almost 
wholly  upon  phases  of  the  pathological  work  of  which  he  was  so 
able  an  expounder.  Dr.  -Jackson  resigned  in  1863,  and  died  nine 
years  later  at  the  age  of  eighty-five,  when  he  had  seen  all  the  old 
faculty  of  "35  retired  or  deceased,  and  the  principles  of  Louis  widely 
accepted. 

Another  connected  with  the  old  faculty  of  1835  is  worthy  of 
especial  interest,  not  only  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Jackson  and  head  of 
the  newly  instituted  system  of  dispensary  clinics  for  the  University. 
but  chiefly  for  his  contributions  to  the  science  of  medicine  in  the 
discovery  of  the  difference  between  typhus  and  typhoid  fev<  - 
This  was  Dr.  William  W.  Gerhard,  who  became  assistant  to  Dr. 
Jackson  in  1838,  and  led  in  the  institution  of  the  dispensary  clinics 
three  years  later  (q).  Dr.  Gerhard  came  of  German  Reformed  and 
Moravian  ancestry  of  old  Pennsylvania  ami  New  .Jersey  families. 
Born  in  1809  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  educated  at  Dickinson  Col- 
lege, and  after  his  graduation  in  1826,  began  the  study  of  medicine 

(q)  Dr.  Jacob  Randolph  was  the  flrst  appointed  clinical  lecturer  on  Surgery 
for  the  University  ami  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  in  1845  ami  Dr.  George  W.  Norris 
succeeded  him  three  years  later. 


198  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

under  Dr.  Joseph  Parrish.  Six  years  later  he  graduated  at  the  Uni- 
versity Medical  School  with  a  thesis  on  the  endermic  application 
of  medicines,  which  showed  the  excellence  of  his  pathological  work 
in  the  Almshouse  Hospital  and  attracted  much  attention.  After 
graduation,  he  visited  Europe,  eventually  going  to  Paris, 
where  he  came  into  close  relation  with  Louis.  His  study  there,  in 
association  with  Pennock  and  other  young  Americans,  was  chiefly 
clinical  and  his  investigations  covered  a  large  field,  including  small- 
pox, typhus  and  typhoid  fevers,  cerebral  affections,  cholera  and 
many  other  maladies;  his  first  papers,  in  conjunction  with  Pen- 
nock, being  on  Asiatic  cholera. 

Returning  to  Philadelphia  he  began  practice,  still  pursuing 
his  investigations  at  the  Philadelphia  or  Almshouse  Hospital.  He 
also  became  resident  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  in  1834. 
Auscultation,  percussion  and  systematic  clinical  work  were  car- 
ried on  by  him  even  more  successfully  than  bj  Dr.  Jack- 
son. In  1836  he  established  the  difference  between  typhus  and 
typhoid  fevers,  and  made  himself  a  world-wide  fame.  Indeed  he  was 
the  greatest  American  exponent  of  the  new  scientific  pathological 
methods  of  France.  In  1838  he  became  assistant  to  Dr.  Jackson  in 
the  University,  and  here  showed  his  commanding  powers  as  a  clin- 
ical teacher.  During  that  year  also  he  joined  with  Drs.  Pennock, 
Stewardson,  Norris,  Stiile,  Goddard,  Grant,  Pepper,  Patterson, 
Biddle,  Carson,  Mutter  and  others  in  the  formation  of  the  Path- 
ological Society  of  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  became  the  first  presi- 
dent. This  society-  paved  the  way  for  the  more  permanent  one  of 
to-day,  which  was  founded  in  1857  in  the  old  "picture-house"  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  whose  first  officers  were:  President, 
Dr.  S.  D.  Gross;  vice-presidents,  Drs.  LaRoche  and  Stiile;  treasurer, 
Dr.  Addinell  Hewson;  secretary,  Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  and  assistant 
secretary,  Dr.  T.  G.  Morton.  These  two  societies  have  been  thought 
by  some  to  have  had  more  general  and  far-reaching  scientific  influ- 
ence than  either  the  College  of  Physicians  or  the  County  Medical 
Society,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  at  least  in  the  field  of  the  new 
Pathology  they  have  been  of  the  first  importance.  In  1841  Dr.  Ger- 
hard had  succeeded  in  establishing  dispensary  clinics  for  the  Uni- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  199 

vn-siiv  in  the  Medical  Institutes  in  associaton  with  Dr.  W.  I'. 
Johnston,  and  in  L842  published  bis  treatise  on  tin-  diagnosis, 
pathology  and  treatmcnl  of  the  diseases  oi  the  chest.  An  attack 
of  typhoid  fever  in  L837  had  seriously  impaired  bis  health 
and  interrupted  his  work,  bo  thai  in  L843  In-  went  to  Kurope 
for  rest.  His  life  was  a  busy  one  from  that  time  on  until 
aboul  L868,  when  he  began  to  retire  from  active  practice.  Il«-  <li«-«l 
in  ls7i!  ni  the  age  of  sixty-three,  a  genial,  kindly,  gentle  clinical 
teacher,  who  musl  always  be  associated  in  Philadelphia  with  the 
introduction  of  the  scientific  methods  of  to-day  (r). 

While  the  University  faculty  of  L835  was  enjoying  its  pros- 
perity, ns  has  been  said,  the  chairs  of  Jefferson  Medical  College 
were  vacated  on  April  2,  L841,  when  Drs.  Pattison  and  Revere  weni 
to  New  York.  Pour  days  later  the  chairs  were  tilled  by  men  so 
able  and  so  harmonious,  that  the  regime  has  been  since  known  as 
-"the  New  Jefferson  Medical  ( Allege."  ( >f  this  faculty  one,  I  >r.  btoblej 
Dunglison,  had  been  with  the  College  five  years  in  the  chair  of  the 
Institutes;  I>r.  Joseph  Pancoast  of  the  Anatomical  chair  had  been 
two  years  with  it  in  the  chair  of  Surgery,  and  Dr.  R.  M.  Huston  had 
been  a  like  length  of  time  in  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica;  but  the 
merit  of  the  new  order  consisted  in  the  excellence  of  every  chair, 
without  exception.  The  new  members  were  Dr.  T.  I).  Mutter  for  the 
chair  of  Surgery,  Dr.  J.  K.  Mitchell  for  the  chair  of  Practice,  Dr. 
Charles  D.  Meigs  for  that  of  Obstetrics,  and  Dr.  Franklin  Bache 
tor  that  of  Chemistry.  From  that  date  on  for  fifteen  years  there 
followed  a  period  of  remarkable  prosperity  and  growth.  ESven 
when  change  necessarily  came  on  account  of  age,  the  addition  was 
a  man  whose  name  soon  gave  Jefferson  even  more  honor  than  sle- 
could  confer  on  him.  As  a  result,  the  last  half  of  this  period  is  the 
beginning  of  the  golden  age  of  the  second  greal  School  of  Medicine 

in  Philadelphia.  "During  these  years,  the  period  of  the  true  rise  and 
healthy    growth    of    the    school,"    writes   Dr.  John     11.   Brinton, 

in  Dr.  Caspar  w.  Pennock  was  ;i  Philadelphia!!,  t><>r:i  in  1801.  it'-  graduated 
in  1828  from  the  fniversity.  and  was  primarily  an  Investigator  by  t  ii » -  n.-w  methods. 
lie  mIso  studied  under  Louis  in  Paris  and  was  intimately  associated  with  Dr.  Ger- 
hard  in  his  work,  until  attacked  b.v  paralysis,  which  afflicted  him  for  more  than 
twenty  years.    He  *  1  i « -* l  in  1867. 


200  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

"the  attitude  of  the  faculty  was  one  of  harmony,  nay,  of  unanimity. 
Many  of  these  great  advances  in  teaching  were  then  effected  which 
gave  the  stamp  to  the  school,  and  helped  not  a  little  to  bring  about 
that  prosperity  which  has  lasted,  unbroken,  to  the  present  day. 
Chief  among  these  was  the  origination  of  the  great  system  of  Col- 
legiate Clinics.  The  establishment  of  such  a  means  of  teaching  had 
been  in  the  minds  of  successive  faculties  from  the  very  beginning  of 
the  institution.  Indeed,  an  infirmary  had  been  opened  within  the 
walls  of  the  Jefferson  College  in  May,  1825,  in  advance  of  its  first 
session,  and  on  the  9th  of  that  month  Dr.  George  McClellan  per- 
formed the  first  surgical  operation  in  the  anatomical  amphi- 
theater. The  system  of  practical  teaching  thus  introduced  was 
continued,  with  more  or  less  regularity,  down  to  the  period  of  the 
reorganization.  By  the  new  faculty,  the  Collegiate  Clinic — Medical 
as  well  as  Surgical — was  made  a  prominent  feature  in  the  weekly 
curriculum.  To  use  the  words  of  Professor  Mitchell  in  his  intro- 
ductory of  1847,  the  clinic  became  'the  right  arm  of  the  College/ 
In  addition  to  the  clinics  of  the  College,  the  class  had  access  to  the 
lectures  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  at  the  Blockley  Alms- 
house. To  the  latter  they  were  carried  twice  a  week  in  large  omni- 
buses hired  for  the  purpose,  the  students  often  crowding  the  top 
as  well  as  interior  of  the  vehicles.  This  disorderly  transporta- 
tion was  an  event  of  great  delight  to  all  small  urchins  on  the  route, 
and  afforded  in  winter,  as  I  well  recollect,  inestimable  chances  for 
snowballing  and  boyish  sharp-shooting.  The  mode  of  instruction 
by  Collegiate  Clinics  met  at  first  with  opposition;  it  was  denounced 
and  sneered  at.  It  was  said  that  it  was  imperfect  and  insufficient, 
that  it  conveyed  false  impressions  and  was  calculated  to  mislead 
rather  than  instruct.  It  may  be  that  at  first  it  was  imperfect.  It 
undoubtedly  was  inferior  in  some  respects  to  Hospital  Clinics, 
nevertheless  it  was  a  great  step  in  advance,  and  the  defects,  in  the 
system  soon  brought  their  own  remedy."  This  remedy  was,  of 
course,  the  hospital,  which  grew  from  small  beginnings  about  two 
or  three  years  later. 

The  strength  of  Jefferson  was  in  the  personal  power  of  its  fac- 
ulty, from  the  refined,  scholarly  Dunglison,  whose  career  has  been 


I\   PHILADELPHIA.  201 

already  ooticed  as  the  bond  between  the  old  and  new,  to  the  young- 
est of  the  new  members,  li  is  also  interesting  to  note  in  this  faculty 
the  proportion  which  came  from  the  South;  this  includes  Drs.  Bus- 
ton,  Mitchell  and  Mutter.  Dr.  Robert  M.  Huston  was  th<-  wise, 
calm,  clear-minded  dean  of  the  faculty  for  nearly  the  entire  period, 
and  became  its  firsl  emeritus  professor  on  his  resignation  in  1857. 
He  was  a  Virginian,  born  in  1  T1»4,  and  studied  medicine  with  SUCh 
ability  that  in  1812,  .n  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  entered  the  govern- 
ment service  as  an  assistant  surgeon.  He  afterwards  entered  the 
.Medical  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  where  h<-  gradu- 
ated in  1825  at  the  ago  of*  thirty-one.  Dr.  Huston  entered  tin-  old 
faculty  in  1839,  thirteen  years  later,  to  occupy  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica,  but  was  transferred  to  that  of  Obstetrics;  and  in  the  n<-w 
organization  he  was  chosen  to  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics,  the  latter  of  these  two  subjects  being  his  favorite 
branch  of  study.  His  convictions  were  in  accord  with  the  less 
heroic  methods  of  treatment  advocated  during  these  years.  As  ;i 
lecturer  he  is  said  to  have  been  characterized  by  simplicity  and 
sincerity,  ami  used  manuscript  entirely.  Dr.  Huston's  business 
ability  was  of  the  utmost  service  to  Jefferson,  ami  when  he  died 
in  1864  the  loss  of  his  valuable  counsel  was  deeply  felt. 

The  member  of  the  old  faculty,  who  joined  it  in  1839,  about 
the  same  time  as  Dr.  Huston,  was  its  famous  surgeon,  Dr.  Joseph 
Pancoast,  who  succeeded  the  founder,  until  in  the  new  order  of  '41 
he  was  given  the  chair  of  Anatomy.  Dr.  Pancoast  was  only  thirty- 
four  when  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  a  professor.  He  was  a 
native  of  New  Jersey,  born  in  1805,  ami  on  entering  upon  the  study 
of  medicine  soon  found  his  favorite  field  to  be  that  of  surgery. 
Attending  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Medical  School,  he  grad- 
uated in  1828,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  and  at  once  settled  in 
practice.  Three  years  later  he  began  teaching  Anatomy,  in  which 
he  soon  won  an  enviable  reputation.  "His  great  object."  writes  Dr. 
Brinton,  "was  to  teach  Anatomy,  not  the  anatomy  of  the  dead,  but 
rather  of  the  living.  With  hint  it  was  Anatomy  applied  -Medical 
Anatomy,  Surgical  Anatomy.  In  his  hands  the  bones  lost  their 
dryness,  they  became,  as  it  were,  living  exponents  of  injuries  and 


202  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

diseases.  Their  growth,  their  size,  their  measurements  served  as 
themes  for  discourses  of  the  most  pregnant  character.  No  zealous 
student  could  faithfully  attend  his  lectures  and  fail  to  carry  away 
with  him  a  mass  of  practical  information  of  inestimable  value  in 
his  future  professional  life.  Dr.  Pancoast's  consummate  knowl- 
edge of  human  anatomy,  and  his  vast  surgical  experience  had  so 
enriched  his  mind  that  his  teachings  were  instructive  and  without 
effort.  Versed  himself  in  the  learning  of  the  books,  the  charm 
of  his  lectures  lay  in  that  unwritten  surgery  which  ever  fell  from 
his  lips.  This  it  was,  I  think,  more  than  anything  else  which  has 
given  that  value  to  his  anatomical  discourses,  which  only  those  who 
have  heard  him  can  appreciate.  No  one  contributed  more  than  he 
to  enhance  the  renown  of  the  Jefferson  College."  His  boldness  and 
skill  as  an  operator,  his  advocacy  of  original  methods  and  appli- 
ances in  surgery,  were  the  true  bases  of  his  power  as  an  instructor. 
His  work  in  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  was  for  years  of  the  highest 
character.  Before  he  had  been  six  years  in  Jefferson  he  issued  his 
''Treatise  on  Operative  Surgery,"  which  ran  through  several  edi- 
tions. He  also  remodeled  Wistar  and  Horner's  text-book  on  Anat- 
omy, and  was  a  contributor  to  medical  journalism.  He  resigned  and 
became  emeritus  professor  in  1874,  after  about  thirty-five  years  of 
eminent  service,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Dr.  W.  H.  Pan- 
coast.  He  survived  eight  years  longer  and  died  in  1882,  in  his 
seventy-seventh  year. 

His  gifted  colleague  in  the  Surgical  chair,  Dr.  Thomas  D.  Miit- 
ter,  had  a  far  shorter  life,  of  only  forty-eight  years,  and  it  was  his 
resignation  in  1856,  followed  by  his  decease  three  years  later,  that 
first  broke  the  unity  of  the  new  faculty  of  '41.  Dr.  Mutter  came  of 
German  and  Scotch  ancestors,  who  settled  in  North  Carolina  in 
ante-Revolution  days  and  afterwards  founded  some  of  the  leading 
families  of  Virginia.  Dr.  Mutter  was  born  in  Richmond  in  1811, 
and  was  left  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  eight.  After  his  grand- 
mother's death  he  was  reared  by  a  relative,  Mr.  Robert  Carter,  who 
educated  him  at  Hampden  Sidney  College,  and  placed  him  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Sinmis  of  Alexandria  to  study  medicine.  He 
received  his  degree   in  1831,  from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

and  Ins  health  being  poor,  lie  accepted  a  position  on  ;i  vessel  bound 
for  Europe,  and  proceeded  to  Paris,  where  he  acquired  sonic  « » r  his 
chief  characteristics  ;is  a  surgeon.  He  also  visited  London,  but, 
says  I>r.  Pancoast,  "it  was  from  tin-  brillianl  Parisian  school,  how- 
ever, that  I  >r.  Mutter's  surgical  character  got  its  early  bias.  His 
quick,  active,  appropriative  mind  was  readily  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  his  distinguished  teachers;  and  from  its  natural  sanguine 
disposition  he  was  ready — perhaps  a  little  too  ready — to  seize  upon 
the  novelties  of  operative  surgery,  which  were  then  so  freely  pro- 
duced by  distinguished  men,  with  promises  of  advantage  that,  in 
some  instances,  were  hardly  fulfilled."  He  was  intensely  interested 
in  the  field  of  plastic  surgery,  and  on  settling  in  Philadelphia  in 
L832,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one;  he  attempted  i<»  draw  about  him  a 
private  class  of  students.  He  was  greatly  encouraged  by  I>r.  Jack- 
son of  the  University,  and,  by  another  year,  joined  I>r.  Paul  B.  <  rod- 
dard,  with  eminent  success.  In  1835  he  was  called  to  lecture  in 
the  Medical  Institute  founded  by  <  Chapman,  and  his  reputation  was 
established.  He  had  a  mingled  gentleness,  energy  and  enthusiasm, 
clear  method,  vivid  demonstration  and  lively  expression  thai  won 
the  hearts  of  the  students  and  commanded  their  admiration.  His 
practice  was  so  large  as  to  prevent  his  giving  much  time  to  literary 
work;  but  his  industry  and  skill  as  a  collector  resulted  in  the  sur- 
gical ami  medical  museum  that  is  now  widely  known  and  bears 
his  name  in  connection  with  the  College  of  Physicians,  where  it 
has  a  home.  After  twenty-four  years  of  instruction,  over  half  of 
which  was  spent  in  the  (hair  of  Surgery  in  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege, he  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health  in  L856,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  S.  D.  Gross. 

The  loss  of  Huston  followed  in  the  next  year,  and  in  L858  the 
chair  of  Practice,  also,  was  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  another 
Virginian,  eighteen  years  older  than  Mutter,  Dr.  John  Kearsley 
.Mitchell.  His  is  a  family  devoted  to  medicine;  he  came  of  two  gen- 
erations of  physicians  and  has  left  behind  him  a  son,  the  eminent 
Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  and  a  grandson,  who  is  also  of  the  profession. 
He  came  of  direct  Scotch  Lineage,  ami  was  born  in  Sheppardstown, 
Virginia,  in  1  "'.».">.     At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  sent  to  Scotland 


204  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

to  be  educated  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  where  he  received 
his  classical  degree.  In  1816,  returning  to  America,  he  came  to 
Philadelphia  and  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr. 
Chapman,  attending  the  University  and  the  Doctor's  private  school. 
He  graduated  in  1819,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six.  Dr.  Mitchell's 
health  then  becoming  impaired,  he  sailed,  as  physician,  on  a 
vessel  bound  for  China.  He  made  three  voyages.  On  settling  in 
Philadelphia  as  a  practitioner,  Dr.  Mitchell's  skill  and  graces  of 
character  soon  opened  the  way  to  a  large  practice,  and  he  was 
chosen  to  the  lectureship  on  Medical  Chemistry  in  Dr.  Chapman's 
Medical  Institute  in  1823,  a  post  he  held  for  nearly  ten  years.  In 
1833  the  Franklin  Institute  secured  him  to  lecture  on  "Chemistry 
Applied  to  the  Arts,"  in  which  position  he  spent  five  years.  He  was 
the  first  chemist  in  the  city  to  solidify  carbonic  acid;  he  discovered 
a  solvent  of  caoutchouc,  and  anticipated  Graham  in  the  theory  of 
the  penetrativeness  of  fluids.  During  this  period  he  had  published 
numerous  articles  on  medical  subjects,  many  of  which  were  char- 
acterized by  an  originality  of  view  that  became  one  of  the  chief  fea- 
tures of  his  development.  He  was  among  the  first  advocates  of  the 
germ  theory  of  disease,  and,  indeed,  anticipated,  in  suggestion rmany 
of  the  accepted  theories  of  the  present  day.  Dr.  Mitchell  was  forty- 
eight  years  old  when  he  was  called  to  the  new  Jefferson  faculty 
of  '41  to  the  chair  of  Practice.  His  lectures  and  other  dis- 
courses "were  marked  by  profound  and  original  thought,  deep 
learning  and  extensive  research,"  says  one  before  quoted. 
"A  vein  of  poetic  imagination  ran  through  all  his  works,  and 
served  to  give  grace  and  interest  to  his  studies  and  descriptions 
of  the  most  technical  subjects.  In  addition  to  his  scientific  writings 
he  also  published  a  volume  of  poems.  In  person,  Dr.  Mitchell  was 
tall  and  portly,  with  a  gentle,  polished  bearing.  He  was  open- 
handed  and  hospitable,  a  charming  companion,  a  man  of  genial 
manners,  and  yet  of  great  dignity  of  character.  He  was  greatly 
beloved  by  his  classes,  and  their  affection  for  him  he  strongly  recip- 
rocated. He  was  the  students'  friend.  In  sickness  and  trouble 
they  turned  to  him  and  never  sought  his  aid  in  vain.  Many  a  poor 
young  fellow,  struggling  in  the  vortex  of  a  great  city's  temptation, 


i\    PHILADELPH1  \. 

has  he  sustained  by  his  wise  counsel  and  kindly  sympathy.  Many 
a  aeedy  student  has  he  helped  from  his  own  purse,  and  aone  the 
w  iser.  in  his  college  Lectures  he  was  exceedingly  happy;  his  terse- 
ness, his  power  of  illustration,  his  way  of  putting  things,  his  anec- 
dote ami  lively  wit,  made  a  favorable  impression  on  the 
class,  an  impression  strengthened  by  their  personal  love 
for  their  teacher.  Be  died  in  harness,  holding  his  pro- 
fessorship t<»  the  end.  The  last  official  act  of  his  life  w;is  the 
Commencemenl  reception  of  the  graduating  class  of  L858  a1  his 
house.  His  health  at  thai  time  was  feeble,  and  tin*  question  arose 
whether  the  entertainment  should  not  be  given  by  oik-  of  his  col- 
leagues. He  insisted,  however,  on  giving  it  himself,  saying  thai  he 
would  probably  not  live  to  give  another.  His  misgivings  were  pro- 
phetic; in  a  month  he  had  passed  away,  leaving  behind  him  the 
reputation  of  a  distinguished  teacher,  a  zealous  investigator,  a  mosl 
eminent  practitioner  and  a  blameless  citizen.''  He  was  also  greatly 
interested  in  public  affairs,  a  member  of  many  leading  scientific,  pro- 
fessional and  other  societies,  before  which  he  lectured  on  widely 
diversified  themes.  He  died  in  the  early  part  of  1858  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five,  the  first  of  the  faculty  of  '41  to  be  removed  by  death. 

Three  years  later,  another  of  this  noble  company  of  teachers 
died  at  nearly  the  age  of  seventy.  He,  too,  was  a  Southern  man 
by  birth  and  education,  enthusiastic,  vivacious,  original  and  imag- 
inative. Dr.  Charles  D.  Meigs  was  for  over  twenty  years  the  incum- 
bent of  Jefferson's  chair  of  Obstetrics.  He  was  an  eloquent  lecturer 
and  a  cultured  gentleman  of  linguistic  and  literary  tastes,  whose 
affability  endeared  him  to  his  students.  He  was  born  in  170-  in  t  he 
Bermudas,  whither  his  father  had  gone  from  Connecticut  as  Proc- 
tor in  the  English  Courts  of  Admiralty,  but  spent  a  pari  of  his 
boyhood  in  Connecticut,  where  his  father  was  subsequently  a  pro- 
fessor in  Yale.  After  his  ninth  year  he  lived  in  Athens,  Georgia,  of 
whose  University  the  elder  Meigs  became  president  in  1801.  Edu- 
cated under  his  father's  direction,  he  received  his  diploma  from  the 
Georgia  institution  in  1809,  and  soon  began  the  study  of  medicine. 
His  health  during  those  days  not  being  of  the  best,  lie  was  advised 
to  visit  his  uncle,  who  was  an  Indian  agent  a  few  miles  away,  and 


206  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

live  in  the  open  air,  among  the  Cherokees  and  other  tribes  then  in 
that  region.  This  he  did,  to  the  great  improvement  of  his  physical 
condition.  In  1812  he  entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Medi- 
cal School  and  was  graduated  in  1S15,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,, 
though  he  did  not  receive  his  degree  until  two  years  later,  when  he 
decided  to  settle  in  Philadelphia.  Here  his  talents  were  appreci- 
ated, although  he  gained  practice  slowly,  and  in  1826,  when  the 
Kappa  Lambda  (s)  Society  of  the  United  States  founded  the  North 
American  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  he  was  chosen  one  of  its- 
editors,  with  Drs.  Bache,  Coates,  Hodge,  LaRoche,  and 
later  Wood,  Condie  and  Bell.  That  was  the  beginning  of  his 
extensive  literary  production,  and  it  was  about  this  time  that, 
against  his  own  inclination,  but  on  account  of  an  excellent 
opening,  he  chose  Obstetrics  as  his  chief  field  of  work.  He  pub- 
lished a  translation  of  Velpeau  in  1831,  and  every  few  years  there- 
after some  work  in  the  line  of  his  special  was  produced  by  him. 
Among  these  was  his  first  original  work,  "The  Philadelphia 
Practice  of  Midwifery,"  and  his  "Obstetrics,  the  Science  and  the 
Art."  His  style  Avas  rich  and  full.  "His  love  for  the  beautiful,"  says 
Dr.  John  Bell,  "was  ingrained  in  his  philosophy,  and  gave  a. color- 
ing both  to  his  written  and  spoken  compositions."  In  1830  he  began 
teaching  in  the  private  "School  of  Medicine,"  started  by  Gibson, 
LaRoche,  Randolph  and  others,  and  after  five  or  six  years  expected 
to  succeed  Dr.  Dewees.  The  contest  was  close,  but  although  he 
was  not  successful,  he  was  soon  called  to  a  chair  which  he  made 
of  equal  honor,  in  the  Jefferson  faculty  of  '41.  "Dr.  Meigs'  maimer 
before  the  class  was  peculiar  and  singularly  impressive,"  writes  Dr. 
Brinton.  "He  was  eminently  a  scholar,  and  always  seemed  to  me  to 
teach  not  only  his  branch,  but  something  more.  He  loved  to  dwell 
upon  the  value  of  learning,  and  to  inculcate  above  all  things  that  the 
physician  should  be  a  cultured  man,  or,  as  he  put  it,  a  member  of 
the  great  Scholar  Class.    He  was  forceful  in  expression,  apt  in  illus- 

(s)  This  Philadelphia  branch  of  it  was  begun  by  Drs.  LaRoche,  Samuel 
Jackson,  C.  D.  Meigs  and  Thomas  Harris,  and  had  harmony  of  the  profession  as 
one  of  its  chief  aims.  Its  influence  was  remarkably  successful  in  this  direction. 
These  editors  originated  the  medical  club  which  lasted  for  thirty  years,  and  was 
the  mother  of  like  clubs  innumerable. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

tration,  a  lover  of  \\\<-  arts,  and  blessed  with  a  poetic  and  fervid 

imagination.    With  the  mi lied  bones  of  an  Egyptian  girl  before 

him,  I  have  heard  him  in  an  enraptured  burst  recall  the  glories  of 
Egypt's ancienl  days.    At  his  magic  words  the  scene  rose  up.   There 
stood  the  palace,  there  the  temple,  where  trod  the  priests  of  [sis; 
vonder  lav  the  brick  fields,  thronged  with  the  Hebrew  slaves;  ;ii 
his  feel  the  Nile  murmured;  there  along  the  tangled  rushes  floated 
the  wicker  basket,  and  for  a  moment  Teacher  and  Class  stood  in 
the  presence  of  Pharaoh's  daughter.     No  member  of  his   many 
•  lasses  will,  I  am  sure,  ever  forget  Dr.  Meigs  and  the  strange  charm 
of  his  words;  at  times  poetic,  at  times  charged  with  quaint  humor; 
now  rising  to  the  highest  pitch  of  philosophic  reasoning,  now  sink- 
ing to  impress  laboriously  upon  the  student  mind  the  beauties  of 
Carus's  curve.     One  characteristic  of  his  teaching  was  his  zealous 
effort  to  bring  others,  and  notably  his  class,  to  think  as  he  did.    He 
was  ;ill  earnestness,  and,  immovable  in   his  own   convictions,  he 
sought,  to  make  all  share  them   with   him."    After  nearly  twenty 
years  of  this  successful  work  his  failing  health  led  him  t<>  resign 
in  18(10,  and  become  Professor  Emeritus,  although  an  emergency 
led  to  his  giving  one  more  course.     After  several  years  of  retire- 
ment he  died,  in  1S(>1>,  one  of  the  most  engaging  personalities  of  the 
old  faculty  of  ante-bellum  days. 

In  striking  contrast  to  Dr.  Meigs  was  the  remaining  member 
of  this  faculty,  who,  when  Meigs  was  teaching  Obstetrics  in  the 
Parrish  School  on  one  side  of  the  street,  and  he  teaching  <  'hemistry 
in  the  Gibson  School  on  the  other,  agreed  with  the  former  that  the 
st  udents  of  the  two  schools  should  attend  t  he  loci  ures  of  bot  h  men. 
Dr.  Franklin  Bache  was,  to  use  the  words  of  his  friend  I  >r.  Wood, 
"extremely  methodical,  clear  in  his  explanations,  because  clear  in 
his  own  conceptions,  conscientiously  precise  in  all  his  details,  and 
leaving  no  dark  spot  in  his  subject  unillumined."  In  short,  he  was  a 
"plain,  clear,  truthful,  conscientious  and  efficient,  but  not  a  showy, 
splendid  or  particularly  attractive  lecturer:  one  from  whose  prelec- 
tions the  student  would  retire  with  his  thoughts  more  intent  upon 
the  subject  taught  than  upon  the  teacher."  This  was  precisely  the 
kind  of  character  one  might  expect  in  the  great-grandson  of  Hen- 


208  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

jamin  Franklin.    Dr.  Bache  was  the  grandson  of  the  only  daughter 
of    Franklin    who    married    Richard    Bache    of    England.       His 
father,  an  accomplished  editor,  was  one  of  the  victims  of  yellow 
fever  in  1798,  when  Dr.  Bache  was  but  six  years  old.     The  boy 
was  prepared  for  college  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Wylie,  and  in 
1810,    at    the    age    of    eighteen,    he     was    graduated    from    the 
Arts  Department  of  the  University  as  valedictorian.    He  at  once 
entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  but  in  the  year  of  his  pre- 
ceptor's death,  1813,  he  joined  the  army  as  surgeon's  mate,  al- 
though he  had  attended  the  University  so  as  to  graduate  in  1814. 
He  became  surgeon  of  a  regiment  and  served  until  1816,  when  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia  and  began  practice.    He  had  shown  great 
talent  for,  and  interest  in,  Chemistry,  and  had  published  an  article 
on  muriatic  acid  so  early  as  his  sixteenth  year,i    His  practice  grew 
very  slowly,  and  during  those  early  y ears  he  published  a  treatise  on 
chemistry.  His  own  family  got  him  to  deliver  them  a  course  of  chem- 
ical lectures  in  1821,  and  Dr.  T.  T.  Hewson  soon  after  engaged  him 
to  repeat  the  course  to  his  private  school.  In  1826  he  was  also  called 
to  a  lectureship  in  Franklin  Institute,  which  he  held  for  six  years, 
until  his  election  to  a  chair  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy.    Mean- 
while he  had  been  chosen,  in  1830,  to  lecture  in  the  School  of  Medi- 
cine of  Gibson  and  others,  and  from  these  positions  he  was  honored 
by  the  call  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  the  faculty  of  '41  in  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College,  when  he  was  forty-nine  years  of  age.     His 
was  one  of  those  sterling  and  solid  moral  natures  that  establish  the 
standards  of  public  opinion  about  them,  and  for  the  long  period 
of  twenty-three  years,  ceasing  only  with  his  death,  in  1864,  at  the 
ripe  age  of  seventy-two,  Jefferson  felt  the  influence  of  his  wise, 
learned  and  quiet  life,  and  his  students  held  him  in  reverence.    His 
other  publications,  which  were  numerous  and  valuable,  are  always 
eclipsed  in  public  memory  by  his  work,  in  connection  with  Drs. 
Hewson  and  Wood,  in  revising  the  National  Pharmacopoeia    in 
1829,  and  by  the  still  greater  United  States  Dispensatory,  issued 
by  Drs.  Bache  and  Wood  in  1833.    In  the  scientific  and  professional 
societies  he  was  a  leader,  and  served  as  president  or  vice-president 
of  most  of  them.    He  was  president  of  the  American  Philosophical 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Society  for  the  full  time-limit  then  allowed.  1 [e,  too,  was  one  of  the 
apostles  of  harmony  in  the  \\<n>\»i  Lambda  and  its  journal,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  powerful  influences  in  the  profession  of  tL 
years.  With  bis  decease,  in  L864,  |»;i-<>««l  the  famous  faculty  <»f  '41, 
excepting  Pancoast,  who  served  i « - 1 1  years  longer.  Jefferson,  with 
such  men  ;is  Dunglison,  Mutter,  Pancoast,  Huston,  Mitchell,  Meigs 
and  Bache,  !i;i<l  become  such  a  Mecca  for  medical  students  that,  hy 
L854,  ii  bad  ;i  class  of  <»27  wit  hi  m  its  halls,  a  number  thai  had  aever 
been  equaled  in  medical  schools  before  ih<*  war. 

Allied  to  the  great  educational  movement  of  this  period  was 
medical  journalism,  which,  for  the  first  time,  received  tin-  consider- 
ation due  to  its  importance,  lis  promoters,  of  course,  included 
many  of  those  men  prominent  in  other  branches  of  medicine, 
has  already  been  indicated,  but  there  were  two  who.  while  also 
prominent  in  other  departments,  are  so  much  better  known  in  the 
literature  and  journalism  of  this  period  that  their  careers  must  he  of 
especial  interest.  The  oldest  of  these  was  Dr.  Rene  LaRoche,  whose 
father  was  a  physician  who  had  been  educated  in  Montpelier, 
Fiance,  and  practiced  medicine  in  St.  Domingo;  but  he  removed 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  living  in  1795,  when  Dr.  LaRoche 
junior  was  horn.  Here  he  was  educated,  and  in  the  war  of  L812 
became  a  Captain  of  Volunteers  in  Colonel  Chapman  Biddle's  regi- 
ment, lie  began  the  study  of  medicine,  and,  iu  1S20,  was  graduated 
from  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University.  After  entering 
upon  practice  he  became  connected  with  the  Private  School  of 
Medicine,  but  his  powers  were  at  their  best  as  a  writer.  ''It  is  said," 
observes  one  recorder,  "that  he  was  always  writing,  almost  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  and  that  his  posthumous  writings  include 
material  for  several  volumes  upon  Music  and  its  I'ses  iu  Medicine, 
on  Fevers,  on  the  Plague  at  Alliens,  and  on  History  of  Schools  from 
the  revival  of  medicine  to  the  present  time."  He  was  a  prolific 
Contributor  to  medical  journals  of  the  first  order  elsewhere,  ami 
was  one  of  the  chief  powers  in  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Kappa 
Lambda  Society's  journal,  lie  is  probably  best  known  by  his  great 
work  on  Yellow  Fever,  which  is  a  (lassie  on  that  subject.     He  was  a 

member  of  nearly  all  the  leading  medical  ami  scientific  societies  of 

1 1 


210  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  city,  and  was  one  of  the  strong  influences  of  this  period.     He 
died  in  1872  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 

Better  known  as  an  editor,  although  he  was  a  writer,  too,  was 
Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  who  was  the  true  creator  of  the  famous  journals  of 
the  leading  medical  publishers,  among  whom  Mr.  Isaac  Lea  was 
so  prominent.  Dr.  Hays  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  Philadelphia 
merchant  and  was  born  in  1796,  a  year  later  than  Dr.  LaKoche.  He 
was  educated  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Wylie,  and  graduated 
from  the  Arts  Department  of  the  University  in  1816.  After  private 
medical  study  under  Dr.  Chapman  he  entered  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  his  alma  mater,  and  was  graduated  in  1820.  His  tastes  were 
so  decidedly  literary  and  scientific  that-when,  in  1826,  it  became 
necessary  for  Dr.  Chapman  to  haA^e  another  editor  to  assist  on  the 
Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  which  he 
had  founded  in  1820,  he  and  Mr.  Lea  chose  young  Hays,  who  was 
then  but  thirty  years  of  age.  The  choice  was  so  happy  that  he 
became  sole  editor  soon  after,  and  in  November,  1827,  to  secure  a 
national  charter  for  it,  changed  its  name  to  the  American  Journal  of 
the  Medical  Sciences.  It  had  the  benefit  of  his  excellent  taste  for 
over  a  half  century.  In  1813  the  quarterly  was  supplemented  by  a 
monthly  called  the  Medical  News  and  Library  (t),  which,  in  its  field, 
fully  equaled  its  more  grave  and  dignified  mother  journal,  and  has 
been  an  organ  of  no  small  power  in  the  profession.  He  was  a  pro- 
lific editor  of  scientific  works  also,  and  the  author  of  original  papers 
and  treatises,  both  medical  and  scientific,  from  his  edition  of  "Wil- 
son's American  Ornithology,"  in  1828,  to  his  "Diseases  of  the  Eye," 
and  other  works,  in  later  years.  In  1846  he  was  one  of  the  most 
active  members  of  the  New  York  convention,  and  it  was  he  who  pre- 
sented the  resolutions  proposing  a  National  Medical  Association 
for  the  better  management  of  standards  of  ethics  and  education. 
These  resolutions  he  attributed  largely  to  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  his  col- 
league on  that  occasion.  At  the  later  meeting  Dr.  Hays  presented 
for  adoption  the  code  of  ethics,  which  has  been  the  recognized  code 
of  the  profession  ever  since.    To  him  was  also  very  largely  due  the 


(t)    These  have  become  respectively  monthly  and  weekly.     The  latter  omits 
"and  Library." 


l\    PHILADELPHIA*.  -.'11 

publication  of  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion for  several  years,  and  his  services  as  treasurer  only  ceased  at 
his  own  declination  of  re-election.  He  was  a  member  oi  numerous 
societies,  both  at  home  and  abroad.  He  was  secretary  oi  the  Kappa 
Lambda  Society,  ami  was  one  of  thai  company  of  members  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  who  sought  to  perpetuate  the  Wis- 
tar  panics  after  Wistar's  decease.  In  L869,  when  lie  reached  his 
seventy-third  year,  ho  was  succeeded  <»n  the  journal  by  lii>  son,  Dr. 
I.  Minis  Hays,  and  ion  years  Later  the  maker  of  "Chapman's  and 
Nays'  Journal,"  as  it  was  popularly  called,  passed  away  at  the 
advanced  age  of  eighty-1  hree.  I  >r.  I  lays  was  of  a  remarkably  judi- 
cial mind,  so  that  during  all  the  years  he  managed  tin-  ahoi  .■  men- 
tioned journals  they  never  became  known  as  the  organs  of  any  party 
or  clique  of  the  profession.  Speaking  in  1870,  Dr.  John  Billings  said : 
"The  ninety-seven  volumes  of  this  journal  need  no  eulogy.  They  con- 
tain many  original  papers  of  the  highest  value;  nearly  all  tie-  real 
criticisms  and  reviews  that  we  possess;  and  such  carefully  prepared 
summaries  of  the  progress  of  medical  science,  and  abstracts  and 
notices  of  foreign  works,  that  from  this  tile  alone,  were  all  other 
productions  of  the  press  for  the  last  fifty  years  destroyed,  it  would 
be  possible  to  reproduce  the  great  majority  of  the  real  contribu- 
tions of  the  world  to  medical  science  during  that  period"  (u). 

The  literature  and  journalism  of  the  period  were  flourishing; 
the  growth  of  the  schools  marvelous;  but  in  the  matter  of  hospital 
advantages  to  students,  Philadelphia  was  sadly  lacking. 

"Philadelphia  has  a  distinguished  reputation  as  a  seat  of  medi- 
cal authority,**  said  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  in  his  closing  address  to  the 
County  Medical  Society  of  Philadelphia  in  1863.  "For  a  Ion-  time. 
and  until  a  very  recent  period,  all  other  American  schools  bore  no 
comparison  with  hers  either  in  their  number  and  excellence  or  in 
the  proportion  of  native  physicians  whom  they  educated.  During 
three-quarters  <>('  a  century  she  stood  facile  princeps  among  Ameri- 
can seats  of  Learning  and  science,  and  her  claims  to  preeminence 

(u)  Among  a  large  number  of  prominent  men  who  died  during  this  period  were 
Dr.  S.  G.  Morton.  Dr.  Jacob  Randolph,  Dr.  J.  B.  Rogers,  Dr.  John  C.  Otto,  Dr. 
Henrv  Bond.  Dr.  W.  I{.  Grant.  Dr.  .T<><.   Nancrede  and  oth- 


212  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

were  uncontested.  But  how  is  it  now?  Gradually,  in  other  cities, 
and  especially  in  the  commercial  metropolis,  rivals  have  grown  up 
which  threaten  to  eclipse  her  medical  institutions,  and  to  draw 
away  from  her  a  large  number  of  the  young  men  who  are  pursu- 
ing the  study  of  medicine The  scanty  provision  for  hos- 
pital instruction  in  one  of  our  public  institutions,  the  absolute  clos- 
ure against  us  for  a  long  while  of  the  larger  hospital,  which  had 
once  afforded  clinical  experience  to  our  students,  and  the  sorry 
substitute  for  it  which  the  colleges  adopted,  all  combined  to  dimin- 
ish the  attractions  of  our  city  as  a  school  of  medicine,  at  the  very 
time  when  our  principal  rival  was  opening  one  hospital'  after 
another  to  clinical  teaching,  and  in  two  of  them  creating  independ- 
ent faculties  of  medicine I  need  not  here  enumerate  the 

instances  during  the  last  years  in  which  discussions  upon  various 
important  questions  of  medical  science  and  practice  have  taken 
place  in  the  societies  of  our  sister  city,  discussions  which  neither  in 
fullness  of  matter,  nor  skill  of  argument,  will  compare  unfavorably 
with  those  held  under  similar  circumstances  in  European  capitals. 
In  a  word,  these  two  cities,  in  their  medical  history,  forcibly  remind 
one  of  Edinburgh  and  London.  While  scholastic  learning  and 
didactic  accomplishments  in  teaching  were  held  in  supreme  regard, 
the  former  place  enjoyed  the  greatest  reputation  abroad,  and  even 
at  home  her  graduates  rose  to  the  highest  honors  in  the  metropoli- 
tan profession.  But,  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  the 
period,  in  other  words,  during  which  physics  have  been  applied  to 
medicine,  and  since  auscultation,  percussion  and  their  kindred 
methods  of  investigation,  microscopical,  chemical  and  physio- 
logical, have  laid  the  phenomena  of  life  and  of  disease  open  to  the 
senses,  the  hospitals  of  London  have  become  the  most  abundant  by 
far  of  all  the  sources  from  which  the  natural  history  of  diseases  is 
being  composed.  Thus,  collectively,  as  a  medical  school,  they  have 
eclipsed  their  former  rival  and  superior."  One  of  the  results  of  the 
civil  war,  then  raging,  was — temporarily  and  partially — to  supply 
this  need  of  hospital  training.  But  with  the  rising  movements  asso- 
ciated with  the  national  catastrophe,  this  notable  educational 
period  closes. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

CIVIL    WAR    PERIOD. 

Philadelphia,  as  has  been  said,  had,  in  L820,  a  population  of 
l  (.3,000.  In  L860,  thecensus  returned  568,000.  The  city  still  spread 
along  i  li»-  Delaware  River  and  had  also  advanced  west  ward  beyond 
Broad  street.  The  medical  population  had  increased  even  more 
rapidly  in  proportion.  It  will  be  remembered  thai  the  period 
between  1820  and  L825  was  remarkable  for  the  scarcity  of  physi- 
cians, and  thai  there  were  only  sixty  or  seventy  i«>  a  population  of 
over  one  hundred  thousand.  To  be  exact,  there  were  sixty-nine 
doctors  in  L825,  according  to  the  correct  directory  of  the  day,  and 
there  were  nearly  as  many  five  years  before;  but  during  the  next 
thirty-live  or  forty  years  the  private  medical  schools  proved  SO 
attractive  that  by  1860  there  were  551  regular  physicians  to  a  popu- 
lation of  over  half  a  million.  As  to  location,  the  tendency  was  more 
and  more  toward  the  scattered  condition  that  prevails  at  present. 
A  glance  at  a  directory  of  that  date  is  of  curious  interest  as  an 
illustration  of  the  changes  in  that  respect  (a).     Besides  the  regular 

(a)  According  to  McElroy's  Directory  of  I860,  the  physicians  in  Philadelphia 
were  as  follows:  D,  Hayes  Agnew,  16  X.  11th  street;  Hugh  Alexander,  Market 
near  Margaretta;  J.  <;.  Allen,  1241  Lombard;  .las.  Anderson.  1103  Thompson, 
J.  B.  Ard,  1616  Arch;  C.  -M.  Arey,  236  X.  10th;  M.  .1.  Asch,  417  Spruce;  H.  II.  Ash, 
1712  Vine;  II.  st.  riair  Ash,  261  X.  llth;  W.  Ashmead,  Germantown;  A  II.  As] 
737  S.  9th;  S.  K.  Ashton,  9th  and  Pine;  Saml.  Atkinson.  1137  X.  2nd;  \V.  B.  Atkin- 
son, 21.")  Sprue<  :  W.  F\  Atlee,  210  S.  13th;  W.  L.  Atlee,  140S  Arch;  T.  P.  Azpaff, 
524  S.  3d;  franklin  Bache,  Spruce  and  Juniper;  T.  Hewson  Bache,  Spruce  and 
Juniper:  .las.  \v.  Bacon,  222  S.  9th;  C.  S.  Baker,  623  Master:  I >.  R.  Bannan, 
Spruce:  J.  Barker,  Graff  and  llth;  Samuel  Barrington,  ill'  S.  18th;  T.  S.  Bartram, 
256  X.  12th;  Elizabeth  P.  Baugh,  1102  Mi.  Vernon;  M.  M.  Beach,  1122  Vine;  Joseph 
Beale.  1805  Delancy;  <;.  H.  Beaumont,  812  Arch;  Louis  Beckedorff,  225  Brown; 
Carl  Beekeu,  411  Wood;  Theo,  Beesley,  10th  and  Arch;  Johu  Bell,  7_'7  Spruce; 
IT.  D.  Benner,  841  S.  3d;  B.  Berens.  909  Arch;  Jos.  Berens,  513  X.  6th;  C.  P. 
Bethell,  !>ll  Franklin;  J.  J.  <;.  Bias,  911  Lombard;  Rufus  Bicknell,  Market  near 
38th;  J.  B.  Riddle,  1117  Spruce;  W.  W.  Bidlack,  2203  Vine;  David  Birch,  252 
Girard  avenue;  J.  F.  Birch,  llth  and  Green;  C.  S.  Bishop,  334  X.  10th;  J.  L.  Bishop. 
i»7-t  X.  Front;  Win.  Blackwood,  1602  Arch;  M.  Blon,  116  Union;  Henry  Bloom,  71" 

213 


214  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

members  of  the  profession  there  was  a  noticeable  increase  in 
adherents  of  exclusive  systems:  The  followers  of  Hahnemann 
enrolled  twenty-six  and  supported  a  school;  the  "Eclectics,"  seven 
in  all,  were  also  struggling  to  support  a  school;  while  the  "Botan- 
ies'" numbered  four.  The  "cuppers  and  bleeders"  had  fallen  from 
25  in  1825  to  16  in  1860,  showing  that  the  reaction  against  heroic 
treatment  had  been  far-reaching  even  at  that  date.  The  women, 
who  at  that  period  were  catalogued  with  these  non-regular  repre- 
sentatives, were  making  a  courageous  endeavor  to  maintain  them- 

Sansom:  L.  D.  Bodder,  920  Arch;  J.  E.  Bodine,  227  Race;  C.  S.  Boker,  1622  Chest- 
nut; Robt.  Boiling,  256  S.  12th;  F.  E.   Bond,  1209  Filbert;  Jas.  Bond,   10th  and 
Locust;   H.   Borland,   612   Richmond;  Anthony   Bournonville,   221   N.  .4th;   A.    C. 
Bournonville,  427  N.  4th;  D.  G.  Bowman,  1700  Green;  D.  P.  Boyer,  1516  N.  4th; 
W.  M.  Breed,  1106  Vine;  W.  C.  Bridges,  119  S.  20th;  Saml.  Brincklg,  1215  Chest- 
nut; Wm.  Brinckle,  same;  M.  Brinkman,  628  Wood;  John  H.  Brinton,  1007  Walnut; 
Peter  Broes,  1713  Lombard;  S.  S.  Brooks,  1320  Vine;  David  S.  Brown,  Front  near 
Norris;  R.  H.  Brown,  1229  Melon;  S.  Brown,  655  N.  10th;  S.  P.  Brown,  633  N.  11th; 
Solomon  Brown,  22d  near  Arch;  Wm.  Brown,  647  N.   10th:   Felix  Bruckner,  414 
N.  Front;  John  Brunet,  411  S.  2d;  Jas.  Bryan,  1305  Walnut;  Jos.  R.  Bryan,  1124 
Green;  J.  D.  Bryant,  45  N.  17th;  F.  J.  Buck,  1139  Pine;  Lee  W.  Buffington,  2023 
Arch;  S.  D.  Burdett,  1004  Green;  Jos.  A.  Burdick,  236  N.  8th;  Geo.  1L  Burgin,  Jr., 
121  N.  ISth:  Francis  Burleigh,  907  Christian;  Robt.  Burns,  Frankford;  D.  Burpee, 
326  S.  16th;  Richard  Bun-,  604  Frankford  av.;  A.  Busch,  116  Union;  S.  W.  Butler, 
1319  Chestnut;  W.  C.  Byington,  1014  Spring  Garden;  M.  Calkens,  1421  Chestnut; 
Elizabeth  Calvin,  1302  Green;  A.  B.  Campbell,  1419  Chestnut;  Jos!  Carson,  1120 
Spruce;  E.  L.  Carter,  9th  and  Pine;  G.  J.  Chamberlain,  622  S.  11th;  Saml.  Chamber- 
laine.  Spruce  and  2d;  M.  Chambers,  502  Spruce;  T.  C.  Chase,  1128  Vine;  Andrew 
Cheeseman,  1336  Pine;  H.  T.  Child,  510  Arch;  C.  W.  Chipman,  320  N.  7th;  J.  C. 
Clark,  520  Buckley;  Wm.  Clendaniel,  133  Pine;  Elizabeth  Cline,  645  N.  9th;  J.  R. 
Coad,  334  S.  5th;  B.  H.  Coates,  710  Arch;  L.  M.  Coates,  534  S.  4th;  M.  W.  Collett, 
329  S.  Broad;  D.  F.   Condie,  237  Catherine;  J.  Conry,  Manyunk;  Thos.  Conway, 
540  N.  12th;  C.  C.  Cooper,  52  N.  13th;  J.   C.   Cooper,   139  Arch;  Jas.   Corse,   150 
'  N.  10th;  David  Cowley,  124  S.  9th;  John  Cox,  1603  Arch;  T.  W.   Craige,   329  N. 
4th;  T.  S.  Crowly,  2103  Chestnut;  J.  Cummiskey,  631  Spruce;  Wm.  Curran,  1314 
Arch;  L.  Curtis,  624  Wood;  J.  Da  Costa,  212  S.  11th;  H.  A.  Daniels.  Florida  and 
Catherine;  Jas.  Darrach,  1205  Arch;  Wm.  Darrach,  1120  Arch;  J.  Davidson,  815 
Walnut;  Jonathan  Davis  (colored i.  713  S.  11th;  W.  A.  Davis,  1006  Coates;  A.  C. 
Deakyne,  782  S.  2d;  J.  S.  De  Benneville,  123  S.  7th;  T.  A.  Demme,  523  N.  4th;  S.  J. 
Deputy,   234   Lombard;   Philip   De  Young,   305   Callowhill;   M.    W.    Dickeson,   211 
Lombard:  A.  C.  Dickinson,  44  N,  7th;  Ernest  Diese,  458  York  av.;  E.  H.  Dietrich, 
315  N.  10th;  Thos.  Dillard.  1720  Pine;  Edward  Donnelly,  1308  N.  4th;  Peter  Doriot, 
1025  Walnut:  E.  C.   Daugherty,  744  S.  12th;  E.  F.  Drayton,  1629  Filbert;  H.  E. 
Drayton.  924  Pine;  Thos.  M.  Drysdale.  1705  Race;  W.  J.  Duffee,  624  Catherine; 
Geo!   Duhring,   614  Arch;   R.   J.   Dunglison,   121    S.    10th;    T.    R.    Dunglison,    1116 
Girard;  Wm.  Dunton,  734  Pine;  J.  M.  Eagleton,  1021  Mt.  Vernon;  J.  Ebeling,  910 
Race;  D.  Egbert,  221  S.  9th;  A.  Elliott,  904  Poplar;  J.  L.    Elliott,   403  N.   12th; 
Susanna  II.  Ellis,  231  N.  10th;  Gouverneur  Emerson.  926  Walnut;  J.  V.  Emlen,  531 
N.  13th;  I.  Eshleman,   317   Spruce;   Chas.   Evans,   702  Race;   Horace   Evans,   635 
Walnut;  R.  T.  Evans,  343  N.  12th;  Jos.  Fabian,  130  Vine;  A.  Fellger,  240  S.  12th; 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

selves  ;is,  .-it  least,  physician-nurses,  ;ni<l  were  working  oul  the 
problem  of  their  true  position  in  the  profession  in  an  effort  to  estab- 
lish their  college. 

The  College  of  Physicians,  the  County  Medical  Society,  the 
Pathological  Society  and  ili<-  Northern  Medical  Association  were 
the  professional  organizations.  The  University  on  Ninth,  and  Jef- 
ferson on  Ten ili  si  red,  were  i  he  foci  of  i  In*  en t  i re  regular  profession 
of  the  <iiy,  while  the  oilier  institutions  were  making  their  final 
struggle  for  existence.     Besides  the  Pennsylvania  and    Philadel- 

Emil  Fischer,  121  N.  9th;  A.  n.  Fish,  1608  Vine;  W.  J.  Fleming,  1911  Vine;  John 
Flynn,  1G  N.  19th;  Win.  Flynn,  25  S.  19th;  John  Fondey,  1128  Vine;  Q.  0.  Foote, 
215  Vine;  W.  S.  Forbes,  257  S.  17th;  D.  M.  Fort,  812  S.  9th;  Root.  Foster,  1520 
Vine;  A.  Foulke,  541  N.  7th;  ,1.  L.  Foulke,  1034  Spring  Garden;  J.  M.  Fox,  13 1 
S.  11th;  Samuel  Frudley,  54!)  Marshall;  W.  H.  Freeman,  652  X.  11th;  W.  S.  Frick, 
821  N.  Mli:  Albert  FrickS,  235  N.  6th;  J.  J.  Fullmer,  221  x.  5th;  Edwin  Fassell, 
910  X.  5th;  Win.  Gallaher,  Baverford  ami  30th;  Win.  Gardener,  1100  Poplar;  C.  S. 
Gaunt,  1713  Lombard;  J.  F.  Gayley,  133  S.  18th;  J.  F.  Geary,  25  S.  16th;  L.  II. 
<  milliard,  018  Race;  C.  F.  Gebler,  1329  Coates;  John  Gegan,  601  B.  Front;  W.  Geih, 
321  X.  11th;  W.  W.  Gerhard,  1200  Spruce;  A.  S.  Gibbs,  342  S.  16th;  David  Gilbert! 
731  Arch;  J.  C.  Gilbert,  Chestnut  Hill;  W.  K.  Gilbert,  507  S.  9th;  W.  H.  Gillingham, 
1232  Chestnut;  W.  W.  Glentworth,  817  Race;  D.  S.  Glonginger,  305  X.  6th;  \v  1 1 
Gobreeht,  818  Walnut;  P.  B.  Goddard,  1322  Walnut;  W.  H.  Gominger,  1135  Ger- 
mantown  av.;  W.  Georges,  1107  Arch;  A.  H.  Graham,  1332  Lombard;  Win.  Granger, 
929  Spruce;  C.  E.  Green,  1021  Race;  F.  F.  Greene,  1237  Germantown  ave- 
nue; Wm.  Gregg,  130  Race;  W.  P.  Grier,  1428  Spruce;  B.  Griffin,  727  X.  7th;  A.  W. 
Griffiths.  210  X.  12th;  J.  D.  Griscom,  1028  Arch;  S.  D.  and  S.  W.  Cross,  Walnut 
and  11th;  W.  Guersey,  Frankford;  B.  B.  Gumpert,  9S2  N.  6th;  F.  B.  Hahu.  238  X. 
9th;  A.  D.  Hall,  828  Walnut;  E.  A.  Hall,  1735  Wallace;  John  P.  Hall,  J 204  Locust; 
W.  S.  llalsey,  701  Pine;  C.  E.  Hamerly,  3d  and  Federal;  G.  S.  Hamil,  2242 
Callowhill;  George  Hamilton,  1000  Summer;  W.  X.  Handy,  932  X.  5th;  M.  A. 
Hanly,  039  Pine;  W.  II.  Hanly,  203  X.  12th;  J.  J.  Hare,  238  Now;  L.  D.  Harlow, 
1023  Vine;  I.  X.  Harper,  111  Race;  Thos.  Harper,  1811  Walnut;  R.  P.  Harris 
1009  Spruce;  Win.  Harris,  same;  B.  Hart,  1214  Coates;  Chas.  Hartshorne,  120 
S.  12th;  Edward  Hartshorne,  1439  Walnut;  Henry  Hartshorne,  1433  Arch;  J.  II. 
Haskell,  057  X.  10th;  X.  L.  Hatfield,  501  Franklin:  I.  I.  Hayes,  249  S.  10th;  Isaac 
Hays,  1527  Locust;  W.  II.  Hazard.  224  Pine;  P.  Meaner.  938  Christian;  G.  C.  Heb- 
erton,  1509  Arch;  S.  Heine,  032  X.  8th;  A.  Helfenstein.  1008  Shackamaxon;  J.  S. 
Helfrich,  930  X.  4th;  Henry  Heller.  845  X.  4th;  W.  S.  Helmuth,  312  S.  loth:  Wm. 
Henry.  507  Pine;  Jos.  Heritage,  sit  s.  3d;  Daniel  Bershey,  994  X.  5th;  AddlneU 
Bewson,  1005  Walnut;  George  Ilewston,  100  X.  12th;  II.  F.  II.  yi.  2033  Summer; 
J.  S.  lliil  S31  x.  loth;  C.  Hlne,  44r>  Shlppen;  A.  <;.  P.  Hinkle,  691  X.  13th;  Sarah 
Hinkle.  254  X.  13th;  R.  Hitchcock,  21  N.  9th;  J.  X.  Hobensack,  2  6  N.  2d:  Hugh  L. 
Hodge  903  Walnut;  J.  M.  Hoffman,  465  N.  4th;  S.  L.  Holllngsworth,  1533  spruce; 
J.  F.  Holt,  420  s.  18th;  W.  Hooper.  112  s.  13th;  n.  St.  <;.  Hopkins,  Chestnut  Hill; 
Jos.  Hopkiuson,  1613  Walnut;  E.  T.  Hornberger,  735  s.  2d;  M.  Borner.  134  Arch;  s. 
II.  Hornor,  1106  Walnut:  Benj.  Bouseki  ep<  r.  610  Richn  ond;  J.  «;.  Boward,  702  Pine; 
G.  W.  Howell,  llll  Brown;  W.  D.  Hoyt,  701  Spruce;  J.  S.  Bucket,  6th  and  Cath- 
erine: I.  av.  Hughes,  40th  and  Chestnut;  E.  Hunt.  1 1  u  .\.  9th;  J.  G.  Hunt.  ."127  X. 
4th;  Wm.  Hunt.  4.;i  Arch;  John  Hunter,  44  X.  7th:  RoM.  M.  Huston,  1208  Arch; 


216  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

phia  hospitals,  there  were  the  Charity  Hospital,  the  St.  Joseph's 
Hospital,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Hospital,  the  Children's  Hos- 
pital, the  Philadelphia  Lying-in  Charity,  the  Wills  Hospital,  the 
Preston  Retreat,  the  Howard  Hospital,  and  several  dispensaries  and 
lying-in  departments  of  other  hospitals.  Pharmacy  and  den- 
tistry had  also  advanced  and  developed. 

In  1860, Lincoln  was  elected,  and  the  Confederacy  formed  in  the 
South  almost  before  the  North  realized  what  was  happening.  Phil- 
adelphia had  become  the  great  medical  center  of  the  land,  and  the 

G.  W.  Hutehins,  326  N.  20th;  E.  B.  Jackson,  211  N.  10th;  E.   O.   Jackson,   1701 
Lombard;  Owen  Jackson,  520  S.  12th;  Sainl.  Jackson,  221  S.  Sth;  Samuel  Jackson, 
1237  Spruce;  E.  Jaeoby,  Chestnut  Hill;  B.  W.  James,  1013  Green;  David  James, 
same;  F.  Jaquett,  317  S.  6th;  Jacob  Jeanes,  519  Vine:  James  Jenkins,  1120  Mt. 
Vernon;  Wilson  Jewell,  420  N.  6th;  A.  C.  Jones,  1442  S.  2d;  Thos.  Jones,  1169  S. 
12th;  Z.  R.  Jones,  318  N.  9th;  O.  A.  Judson,  1135  Spruce;  C.  E.  Kamerly,  3d  and 
Federal;  John  K.  Kane,  1027   Walnut;  Jos.  Kane,  S12  S.  2d;  Wm.   Keating.  283 
S.  4th;  C.  P.  Keichline,  502  N.  4th;  Henry  Keim,  Manyunk;  Wm.  Keller,  £57  N. 
6th:  E.  B.  P.  Kelley,  502  Shippen;  John  Kelly,  318  N.  Sth;  Robt.  Kenderdine,  712 
Ruttonwood;  A.  L.  Keuney,  2  S.   Merrick;  Mrs.  Jos.   Kenney,   1207  Pine;   M.   G. 
Kerr,  1351  Melon;  A.  R.  Kinkelin,  303  Union;  Thos.  S.  Kirkbride,  Insane  Dept.  of 
Pennsylvania  Hospital;  J.  L.  Kite,  457  N.  5th;  Jos.  Klapp,  622  Pine;  W.  C.  Kline, 
1213  Germantown  aTenue;  I.  D.  Knight,  1513  Green;  J.  K.  Knorr,  910  N.  Front; 
G.  H.  Kiuger,  311  N.  6th;  John  Lachenmeyer,  425  N.  4th;  Paul  La  jus,  1334  Spruce; 
W.  P.  Lambert,   832  Franklin;   S.   M.  Landis,   728   S.   10th;   S.   W.   Langdon.    14S 
Richmond;   Geo.   Langolf,   214   Spruce;   E.   F.   Leake,    Frankford;   W.    B.    Leary, 
721  Sansom;  C.  C.  Lee,  Race  and  18th;  J.  K.  Lee.  Market  and  34th;  R.  H.  Lee, 
1609  Frankford  avenue;  C.  A.  Leech,  1222  Coates;  Jos.  Leidy,  908  Sansom;  X.  B. 
Leidy,  243  X.  Cth;  A.  Leiper,  11th  and  Callowhill;  J.  M.  Leon,  928  Race;  J.  Lessey, 
303  N.  9th;  W.  A.  Letterman,  208  S.  13th;  J.  J.  Levick,  1109  Arch;  M.  M.  Levis. 
418  X.  0th;  Richard  Levis,  523  X.  6th;  D.  T.  Lewis,  2004  Pine;  E.  Lewis,  Jr.,  1103 
Chestnut;  F.  W.  Lewis,  202  S.  11  ih;  E.  Lichau,  431  Race;  A.  Lippe,  1224  Walnut; 
Josiah  Litch,  127  X.  11th;  Squier  Littell,  1232  Arch;  Hannah  E.  Longshore.  1116 
CalloAvhill;  Jos.  S.  Longshore,  1430  X.  11th;  F.  E.  Luckett,  113  S.  13th:  J.  L.  Lud- 
low, 10  Merrick;  G.  B.  Lummis,  145  Coates;  L.  M.  Lyon,  506  X.  3d;  J.  C.  Lyons, 
1354  X.  Front;  C,  A.   McCall,  1354  X.   Front;   E.   McClellan,   1441   Walnut;  John 
McClellan,  1029  Walnut:  Jas.  McClintock,  150  X.  11th;  J.  R.  McClurg,  1100  Walnut; 
W.  F.  McCurdy.  829  Race;  W.  McFadden.  863  X.  5th:  H.  D.  McLean,  1315  Lom- 
bard; P..  McLerney.  1336  Cherry;  W.  C.  McMackin.  2nd  and  Reed;  A.  S.  McMurray. 
1306  Pine;  B.  A.  McNeill,  421  S.  16th;  T.  A.  McRean,  625  X.  7th;  A.  McWhinney, 
1510  Vine;  John  Macavoy,  1235  X.  4rh;  I.  MacBride.  1757  Frankford  avenue;  G.  W. 
Malin,   Germantown:  W.  H.  Malin.   Frankford;  Benj.   Malone,   65S  X.   Sth;  R.   S. 
Mansfield.  727  X.  30th:  G.  W.  Mason.  1203  X.  10th:  R.  Maris.  239  S.  Sth:  X.  Mar- 
selis,  4th  and  Lombard:  Geo.   Martin,  415  York  avenue;  J.   A.  Martin,  415  Vork 
avenue:  J.  K.  Mason,  310  S.  15th;  Wm.  Mabuiry.  7th  and  Vine;  C.  D.  Meigs.  1208 
Walnut;  J.  A.  Meigs,  1531  Lombard;  J.  F.  Meigs,  1208  Walnut;  David  Merritt. 
Shippen  near  15th;  Wm.  Metcalfe,  1219  X.  3d;  C.  H.  Miller.  029  X.  12th;  S.  B.  W. 
Mitchell,  1338  Coates;  S.  Wier  Mitchell.  1226  Walnut;  Jas.  Moore,  1343  Lombard; 
J.  W.  Moore,  313  Spruce;  Geo.  Morehouse,  227  S.  9th;  Caspar  Morris,  1435  Spruce; 
J.  Cheston  Morris,  1435  Spruce;  S.  R.  Morris,  659  Germantown  avenue;  Jas.  Mor- 


IX    PH1LADELPH1  I.  211 

Large  and  importaul  student  population  was  mainly  from  the  South. 
Besides  the  551  regular  physicians  there  were  Dearly  three  times 
;is  many  medical  students.  The  membership  of  Jefferson  had 
eclipsed  ;ill  the  records  of  1 1 m •<  1  i < •; 1 1  schools  in  any  land  or  time,  and 
in  1859-60  its  matriculates  numbered  630;  the  University  reached 
iis  largest  enrollment  thai  year  in  an  attendance  of  .">l's;  these  two 
alone  reached  ;i  toi;il  of  L,158,  and  the  other  schools  combined, 
together  with  private  students  not  ye1  enrolled  in  graduating 
schools,  probably  brought  the  number  of  students  up  to  the  n»'i;_rli- 

rison,  Manyunk;  N.  R.  Moseley,  -Hi!  S.  11th;  S.  Moseley,  L715  Walnut;  Win.  VIoss, 
1820  Walnut;  J.  i>.  Mundy,  616  Spruce;  S.  Murphy,  38  N.  Broad;  J.  P.  Musgrave, 
12  S.  17ih;  J.  V.  Myers,  1110  Callowhill;  K.  Xeal,  923  Chestnut;  Ebenezer  Seal,  651 
N.  12th:  Andrew  Neblnger,  1018  S.  2d;  C.  Nefl,  19ul  Chestnut;  rohn  Neff,  L90J 
Chestnut;  C.  Neidhaxd,  124  S.  9th;  John  Neill,  1352  Spruce;  <'.  Noble;  166  Nf.  3d; 
L.  E.  Nordmau,  5th  and  Green;  <;.  W.  Norris,  1534  Locust;  J.  \V.  s.  Norris,  1802 
Spruce;  W.  Notson,  040  S.  r>th;  M.  O'Hara,  43  S.  17th;  Geo.  I".  Oliver,  544  German 
town  avenue;  L.  Orlovski.  047  N.  3d;  E.  A.  Page,  1415  Walnut;  W.  1'..  Page,  i"l^ 
Walnut;  W.  Paine,  120  N.  5th,  H.  C.  I'aist,  133  Callowhill;  .lis.  Palmer,  2021 
Winter;  Jos.  Pancoast,  l < >."'.ii  Chestnut:  R.  M.  Pancoast,  23  \.  10th;  s.  Pancoast, 
910  Spring  Garden;  W.  H.  Pancoast,  1032  Chestnut;  J.  V.  Patterson,  mi  s.  13th; 
W.  P.  Patterson,  719  s.  8th;  J.  R.  Paul,  1006  Pine;  Edward  Peace,  1602  Chestnut; 
J.  G.  Pehrson,  107  s.  10th;  J.  L.  Pierce,  1138  Race;  Amos  Pennebacker,  37  X. 
11th;  Alexander  Penrose,  1133  Spruce;  Benj.  Plaster,  Jr.,  .~.l^  \.  12th;  .1.  m.  Plersol, 
1110  Spring  Garden;  .Minna  E.  Plersol,  lion  Spilng  Garden;  W.  a.  Piper,  TiiT  N. 
5th;  J.  W.  Pattinos,  i::i  Lombard;  David  Posey,  ^n  Chester;  I ».  R,  Posey,  1102 
Callowhill;  U.  Price,  302  x.  9th;  Henry  Primrose,  604  s.  10th;  B.  n.  Hand.  106  S. 
0th;  F.  Rattemann,  874  X.  5th;  T.  J>.  Rea,  2027  Girard;  T.  S.  Reed,  iso  s.  2d; 
John  Reese,  1836  Delancy;  X.  C.  Reid,  4th  and  Catherine;  T.  a.  Reilly,  Til  X. 
Broad;  Isaac  Remington,  312  N.  6th;  A.  Rene,  120  S.  17th;  R.  Reyburn,  1145  S.  10th; 
R.  B.  Reynolds.  633  Nine:  S.  K.  Reynolds.  <;ir,  Richmond;  John  Kliein.  HO!)  Callow- 
hill;  J.  E.  Rhoads,  Germantown;  R.  W.  Richie.  1935  Lombard;  E.  s.  Rlckards,  310 
Federal;  W.  M.  I..  Rlckards,  601  X.  17th:  T.  II.  Ridgely,  1131  Spruce;  R.  K. 
Ridgway,  1324  Brown;  li.  W.  Rihl,  814  X.  Front:  J.  L.  Rihl,  551  Prankford  avenue; 
B.  Ripperger,  sot  Walnut;  E.  P.  Rivinus,  1813  Spruce;  M.  Riser,  422  s.  7th; 
«'.  B.  Roberts,  1336  X.  3d;  <;.  II.  Robinett,  1619  Arch;  L.  Rodman,  1127  Arch:  John 
Rodders,  730  Carpenter;  R.  E.  Roger,  L121  Girard  avenue;  .!.  s.  Roher,  1719  Chest- 
nut; .1.  s.  Rose,  805  Arch:  .1.  W.  Rowe,  245  Thompson;  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger, 
L932  Chestnut;  !'.  W.  Russell,  1702  Chestnut;  li.  J.  Sartain,  725  Snnsom;  .1.  D. 
Sclioahs.  ins  x.  11th;  E.  Scholtield,  322  s.  5th;  J.  Schrotz,  331  X.  8th;  F.  Scoffln, 
901  Pine;  J.  H.  Seltzer.  1120  Green;  Matthew  Semple,  S02  x.  Broad;  M.  Senderllng, 
227  Richmond;  M  C.  Shallcross,  ~>'2u  Walnut;  E.  R.  Shapleigh,  440  X.  Sth;  .1.  T. 
Sharpless,  1-27  Arch:  R.  i'.  and  R.  Q.  Shelmerdine,  834  X.  10th;  Edwnrd  Shlppen, 
1205  Walnut;  Jos.  Shippen,  225  S.  9th;  Win.  siiipjun.  1205  Walnut;  Nathan  shoe- 
maker. 830  Arch:  F.  Sim*.  709  Tine;  Jos.  Sites.  128  Laurel;  I',  c.  Skerrett,  917 
Spruce:  A.  M.  Slocum,  do::  Spring  Garden;  J.  n.  Sroaltz,  820  \.  6th;  a.  .1.  Smiley, 
'jos  South;  T.  T.  Smiley,  902  Tine:  A.  li.  Smith,  253  S.  17th;  C.  .1.  Smith,  1710 
Lombard;  Francis  Gurney  Smith,  1505  Walnut:  Henry  H.  Smith,  1029  Walnut; 
li,  Y.  Smith,  756  S.  loth:  s.  a.  Smith,  39th  and  Market;  W.  P.  Smith,  433  X.  4th; 
George  Spackman,  1610  Vine;  E.  A.  Spooner,  270  S.  16th;  J.  <'.  Stanton,  Manyunk; 


218  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

borhood  of  1,300  (b).  As  the  bulk  of  this  number  was  in  the  two 
leading  schools,  what  can  be  said  of  them  will  serve  as  illustration 
of  the  rest,  and  as  Jefferson  and  the  University  differed  in  but  one  or 
two  respects,  as  regarded  their  student  contituency,  these  differ- 
ences may  be  noticed,  and  then  the  largest,  Jefferson,  may  for 
several  reasons  be  taken  as  the  example  of  the  exodus.  Notwith- 
standing Jefferson's  growth  and  popularity,  the  University  contin- 
ued to  draw  the  largest  attendance  from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
To  take  the  year,  1860-61,  when  the  attendance  from  Pennsyl- 
vania would  have  the  fairest  chance  to  show  its  preference,  we  find 
that  the  University  had  222  from  this  State,  while  Jefferson  had 
but  110.     This  shows  Jefferson's  gains  to  have  been  chiefly  from  the 

C.  G.  Stees,  517  N.  12th;  John  Sterling,  514  Spruce;  J.  G.  Stetler,  1321  Girard  ave- 
nue: Franklin  Stewart,  1212  Cherry;  R.  Stewart,  830  N.  19th;  S.  Stewart,  3d  and 
Queen;  Wm.  Stiles,  633  N.  8th;  Alfred  Stille,  1500  Walnut;  A.  Owen  Stille,  1033 
Chestnut;  A.   E.   Stocker,   1429  Walnut;   Sanrl   Stone,  1331   Fine;  W.   D.   Stroud 
1102  Arch;  Jas.  Suniraeryille,  1131  Filbert;  Win.  Sutton,  923  X.  5th;  H.  Swayne 
8  N.  7th;  W.  H.  Taggart,  1610  Chestnut;  C.  H.  Taylor,  S30  X.  4th;  J.  E.  Taylor, 
503  York  avenue;  W.  T.  Taylor,  1306  Girard  avenue;  A.  R.  Thomas,  1421  Chestnut 
J.  G.  Thomas,  1522  Vine;  R.   F.  Thomas,   144  X.  12th;  J.   W.   Thompson,  313   S 
18th;  Fred'k  Thumm,  602  X.  7th;  Henry  Tiedemann,  445  X.   5th;  D.  M.   Tindall 
205  Catherine;  C.  E.  Toothaker,  S05  Vine;  R,  H.  Townsend.  1518  Arch;  S.  Town 
send,  433  Richmond;  S.  X.  Troth,  661  X.  11th;  George  Truman,   142  X.   7th;   S 
Tucker,  826  Walnut;  L.  L.  Turnhull,  1208  Spruce;  C.  P.  Turner,  235  S.  8th;  T.  J 
Turner.  602  Frankford  avenue;  C.  F.  Tutr,  1004  S.  11th;  J.  C.  Tyson,  953  X.  11th 
Silas  Cpdegrove,  418  Richmond;  E.  B.  Vandyke,  1502  Fine;  J.  K.  T.  Van  Felt,  1031 
Chestnut;  C.  C.  Van  Wyck,  Walnut  and  10th;  C.  B.  Voight,  331  Lombard;  Henry 
Wadsworth,  1343  X.  Front;  L.  L.  Walker,  731  Chestnut;  Ellerslie  Wallace,  277  S. 
4th;  D.  G.  Walton,  154  X.  7th;  D.  O.  C.  Ward,  156  X.  15th;  E.  H.  Ward,  232  X. 
16th;  G.  H.  Waters,  478  X.  6th;  Phoebe  M.  Way,  36  X.   16th;  Wm.  Weatherly, 
1036  Spring  Garden;  Martin  Weaver,  Germantown:  W.  L.  Wells;  216  S.  9th;  F. 
West,  1512  Tine;  H.  West.  1524  Pine;  J.  A.  Whartenby,  814  X.  Sth;  Alex.  Wilcocks, 
1003  Walnut;  T.  C.  Williams,  567  X.  5th;  W.  S.  Williams.  635  X.  5th:  D.  William- 
son, 1032  Pine:  Augustus  Wilson.  1315  Locust;  Ellwood  Wilson,  1339  Arch;  Jas.  H. 
Wilson,  838  Lombard;  John  Wiltbank,  1105  Arch;  G.  Winkler,  913  Race;  H.   G. 
Winslow,   224  X.   10th;   Wm.  Winter,   850  Randolph;   Caspar  Wistar,   726  Arch; 
R.  M.  Wistar,  515  S.  12th;  Owen  J.  Wistar,  Germantown;  W.  Witfield,  500  Powell; 
C.  Wittig,  480  X.  4th;  S.  Wolff,   1227  Walnut:   Geo.  B.   Wood,   1117  Arch;  S.  W. 
Woodhouse,  823  Chestnut;  C.  S.  Wurts.  1701  Walnut;  T.  H.  Yardley,  1005  Arch; 
Wm.  Young,  416  Spruce;  W.  Young,  1412  Walnut;  Henty  Zell,  321  S.  7th;  G.  J. 
Zeigler,  1512  Chestnut,  and  Jacob  S.  Zorns,  60S  X.   Front;  also  four  "Botanies." 
seyen  Eclectics  and  twenty-six  Homeopathists.    This  directory   is   only   approxi- 
mately complete,  as  some  well-known  names  are  omitted.    There  are  also  many- 
cases  of  misspelling.    In  the  main,  however,  it  serves  to  show  very  fairly  the  ranks 
of  regular  mediciDe  in  1860. 

(b)  In  1857-8  there  were  1.139— Jefferson,  501;  the  University.  435;  Pennsyl- 
vania College,  140;  and  Philadelphia  College,  63.  This  oir.its  women  students  and 
others  not  in  graduating  schools. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  2\9 

country  at  Large,  <  mi  side  of  Pennsyl  vania,  and  if  those  should  prove 
to  be  mainly  from  the  South,  it  will  readily  )><■  Been  that  Jefferson 
would  be  the  greater  sufferer  from  the  war.  Before  turning  to 
Jefferson  lei  a  glance  be  taken  a1  the  constituency  of  the  University 
in  any  ante-bellum  year,  say  L856-57,  for  example,  in  order  to  con- 
trast the  personnel  of  the  two  schools:  In  that  year,  with  a  total 
matriculation  of  454,  of  whom  L50  were  from  Pennsylvania,  the 
state  furnishing  the  aext  largest  Dumber  <>f  students  was  North 
Carolina  with  65,  followed  by  Virginia  with  48,  Tennessee  with  27, 
Alabama  with  26,  Mississippi  wit  h  L5,  and  ( reorgia  wit  hit;  except 
ing  New  Jersey  with  24,  there  being  ao  Northern  State  furnishing 
so  many  as  a  dozen.  Thus  it  will  be  soon  that  even  in  the  Uni- 
versity school,  the  attendance  was  composed  chiefly  of  Southern 
students  and  Pennsylvanians,  the  Dumber  given  here  ahme  aggre- 
gating nearly  two  hundred  of  the  former  from  states  which  fur- 
nished 14  and  over.  So  that,  for  the  University,  the  civil  war 
involved  a  loss  of  about  one-half  of  her  students,  unless  they  were 
reinforced  from  the  North.  And  so  it  proved,  for  in  18G2-<;:!,  hot- 
lowest  enrollment  during  the  war  was  319,  the  lowest  since  1815; 
and  the  next  year  out  of  a  total  of  401,  Pennsylvania's  list  increased 
to  2(>7,  and  no  purely  Southern  Stale  sent  so  many  as  six. 

Jefferson,  however,  affords  the  best  example  of  the  effect  of  t  he 
Mar.  The  college  had  received  some  of  its  most  able  teachers 
from  the  South  and  West,  which  fact  accounts  for  the  large  num- 
ber of  students  from  those  quarters,  hi  1859-60,  before  the  war 
had  affected  the  question  of  constituency  at  all,  Jefferson  had  a 
total  enrollment  of  030.  The  largest  single  contribution  to  this 
from  any  one  State  was  from  Pennsylvania,  but  that  was  only  120, 
while  Virginia  came  next  with  almost  as  many,  namely,  94;  Ala- 
bama followed  with  over  half  as  many,  .">(>;  Mississippi  with  19; 
Georgia  and  North  Carolina  with  44  from  each;  South  Carolina  fur- 
nished .'><>,  Tennessee  35,  Kentucky  22,  and  Maryland  15,  before  a 
single  Northern  State  is  reached.  These  figures  alone,  not  count- 
in-  smaller  numbers,  give  389 — i.  e.,  nearly  400  out  of  the  630  were 
from  Southern  States,  each  of  whose  quota  did  not  fall  below  l.~>. 
Jefferson's  large  Southern  element  made  it   the  center  of  a  move- 


220  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

nient  which  sprang  up  early  during  this  session,  and  had,  for  its 
object,  the  union  of  all  Southern  students  in  the  city  in  a  withdrawal 
to  some  institution  in  the  Southern  States,  so  that  after  graduation 
they  might  be  counted  among  the  resources  of  the  South.     It  was, 
undoubtedly,  a  part  of  the  general  movement  in  which  the  prelimi- 
naries of  the  Confederacy  were  effected,  but  was  started  into  action 
by  the  raid  of  John  Brown  (c).     The  first  public  meeting  was  held 
at  9  o'clock,  Tuesday  morning,  on  December  20, 1859,  at  the  Assem- 
bly Building,  and  nearly  all  the  Southern  students  of  the  city  were 
present.     Two  gentlemen,  Drs.  Luckett  and  Maguire,  who  were 
popular  "quizzers"  among  those  students,  were  called  upon  to 
express  the  sentiments  of  the  majority.     The  former  read  a  tele- 
gram from  Governor  Wise,  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  offering  cordial 
welcome  to  those  who  should  come  to  the  college  in  that  city,  and 
also  offering  to  pay  all  necessary  expenses  of  transport.     Letters 
were  read  from  other  institutions  in  that  State  and  in  North  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia,  offering  inducements    and   welcome.     Already 
large  numbers  had  pledged  themselves  to  take  the  step  and  names 
were  read,  which,  with  those  added  during  this  meeting,  reached 
the  large  number  of  about  two  hundred  students.     Dr.  Hunter 
Maguire  made  the  motion  providing  for  their  leaving  in  a  body  on 
the  next  evening,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  carry  out  the 
plans  adopted.     "Of  two  hundred  seceders,"  says  a  writer  in  the 
American  and  Gazette  of  December  30,  1859,  "only  eighteen  were 
from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  one  from  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Medical  College."     The  only  reason  assigned  in  their  resolu- 
tions was  expressed  in  the  preamble  as  follows :     "We  have  left  our 
homes  and  congregated  in  this  city  with  a  view  to  prosecute  our 
medical  studies,  and  having  become  fully  convinced  that  we  have 
erred  in  taking  this  step,  that  our  means  should  have  been  expended 
and  our  protection  afforded  to  the  maintenance  and  advancement  of 
institutions  existing  in  our  own  sections,  and  fostered  by  our  own 
people,"  etc.     They  decided  to  secede  and  go,  for  the  greater  part, 
to  the  Medical  College  of  Virginia,  at  Richmond.     "This  conduct  of 

(c)  The  feeling  among  the  students  grew  so  hitter  in  these  years  that  colli- 
sions were  numerous  and  on  one  occasion  so  serious  that  Dr.  Gibson  remarked 
that  "The  very  devil  seems  to  have  got  into  the  students." 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  821 

the  students,"  writes  Dr.  B.  D.  Gross,  "caused  great  commotion  in 
our  school,  as  well  as  in  the  I  rniversity  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  tin- 
city  generally.  I  was  anxious  thai  the  Faculty  should  take  som< 
formal  notice  of  this  agitation,  and  thai  the  dean  should  be  com- 
missioned to  discharge  this  function  as  ;i  part  of  his  official  duties. 
He,  however,  had  greal  doubl  of  the  propriety  of  the  measure,  and 
when,  ;it  length,  he  addressed  tin-  class,  it  was  evident  thai  his 
remarks  fell  still-born  upon  the  ears  of  thai  portion  of  i1  which  thej 
were  especially  designed  to  influence  and  benefit.  A  strong  a  |»|>:-al 
a1  an  early  day  might,  l  have  always  been  of  the  opinion,  have  been 
of  greal  service.  Theday  before  the  exodus  occurred"  (which  I>r. 
( S-ross  says  was  on  the  evening  of  I  he  23d,  all  hough  he  by  a  slip  of 
memory  puts  the  event  two  years  too  Late),  "I  devoted  fifteen  min- 
utes to  the  consideration  of  the  subject,  in  which  I  strongly  urged 
upon  the  different  students  the  importance  of  remaining  to  the  end 
of  the  session  in  close  attendance  upon  the  lectures;  but,  although 
my  address  was  well  received,  the  most  profound  silence  prevail- 
ing during  the  delivery,  it  failed  of  its  object.  Only  a  few  of  the 
Southern  students  had  the  good  sense  to  complete  their  course  of 
st  udies.  While  this  emeute  was  in  progress,  letters  were  received 
from  different  Southern  schools  ...  as  the  Richmond,  Augusta, 
Charleston  and  Atlanta,  offering  to  receive  the  seceders  with  open 
arms,  and  to  give  them  their  tickets,  at  the  same  time  promising  to 
graduate  such  as  might  present  themselves  as  candidates.  (Jov- 
ernor  Henry  A.  Wise  made  them  a  long  speech  of  welcome  on  their 
arrival  at  Richmond,  in  the  college  of  which  most  of  them  enlisted." 
This  was  only  the  first  loss  of  students  from  the  South.  The 
next  year,  1860-61,  Jefferson  enrolled  but  443,  of  whom  1  L0  were 
from  Pennsylvania.  There  was  still  a  considerable  Dumber  from 
the  South;  indeed,  North  Carolina  furnished  13,  the  next  greatest 
number  to  Pennsylvania,  Virginia  followed  third  with  37,  Georgia 
and  Kentucky  each  with  lM,  before  a  Northern  State  is  reached, 
while  r>7  more  were  sent  from  four  other  States  of  t In-  <  Jonfederacy. 
This  still  gave  Jefferson  a  total  of  170 — approximately  half  of  her 
constituency— from  the  Confederate  section;  and  the  University 
Buffered  in  proportion,  so  far  as  the  number  of  Southern  students 


HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

is  concerned.  But  the  conflict  was  now  begun,  and  the  year 
1S61-62  saw  The  total  enrollment  of  Jefferson  fall  to  238;  153  of  these 
were  from  Pennsylvania,  only  16  from  the  entire  South,  and  these 
were  from  the  border:  Virginia — beyond  the  mountains,  probably — 
Maryland  and  Kentucky.  In  1862-63,  275  were  enrolled,  with  none 
but  Kentuekians  from  the  South:  in  '63-4  there  were  351  under  like 
conditions;  in  1864-65  there  were  380,  and  still  none  from  below 
the  Mason  and  Dixon  line,  and  it  was  not  until  1865-66  that  small 
recruits  of  a  dozen  or  less  began  to  represent  the  late  Confederate 
commonwealths.  In  that  year  the  University's  enrollment  was  520 
and  Jefferson's  425,  which  serves  to  show  Jefferson's  larger 
dependency  on  the  South  in  those  years,  and  her  heavier  loss  when 
the  Southern  men  withdrew.  It  soon  became  apparent  that  these 
experiences  were  increasing  the  representation  of  both  schools  in 
the  North,  and  in  the  West,  and  the  old  conditions  were  never 
restored,  so  far  as  Southern  students  were  concerned.  The  notice- 
able increase  of  names  from  Ohio  was.  no  doubt,  in  some  measure,. 
due  to  Jefferson's  intimate  relations  with  medical  schools  in  the 
Ohio  Valley,  where  she  had  secured  the  great  surgeon  who 
attracted  many  students  in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the 
medical  secession. 

With  the  opening  of  the  war  all  the  other  regular  medical 
schools  collapsed,  although  the  Woman's  College  revived  after  a 
brief  suspension.  As  the  University  and  Jefferson  faculties  had 
greatly  changed,  it  will  be  of  interest  fa  see  what  influences  were 
g  erning  Philadelphia  medicine  from  the  secession  in  1860  to  the 
International  Congress  of  1876,  to  which  period  this  chapter  is 
devoted. 

The  names  of  Chapman.  Wood.  Jackson.  Bache,  Dunglison  and 
others  had  begun  to  give  place  to  those  of  Gross.  Leidy.  Agnew. 
Still e\  Da  Costa.  Mitchell  and  many  more  which  are  still  in  the  mind 
of  the  public.  The  changes  in  the  University  really  began  as  far 
back  as  1847,  when  Dr.  Rogers  succeeded  Dr.  Hare.  Not  long  after. 
in  1850,  Dr.  Chapman  resigned,  and  Dr.  Wood,  taking  his  placer 
made  way  for  the  election  of  Dr.  Joseph  Carson  to  the  chair  of 
Materia  Medica.     From  that  time  on.  the  names  began  to  alter. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

Drs.  Carson,  the  Kogers  Brothers,  Leidy,  Pepper,  Henry  il.  and 
Francis  G.Smith,  Penrose,  Stills  and  Agnew,  were  the  active,  Lnflu- 
fiitial  University  representatives  of  the  chief  pari  of  the  period. 
Some  of  these,  for  example  Dr.  Pepper  and  the  elder  Rogers,  were 
in  service  bu1  a  short  time;  others,  ;is  Drs.  Leidy  and  Agnew,  were 
more  fully  identified  with  the  period,  and  two  of  them,  Drs.  Siilir- 
and  Penrose,  are  still  living. 

The  Rogers  family,  fa1  her  and  I \\<>  sons,  were  eminent  in  chem- 
istry, the  father,  Dr.  Patrick  K.  Rogers,  being  the  successor  of  Dr. 
Hare  in  the  chair  devoted  to  that,  subject  in  William  and  Mary 
College,  Virginia,  when  Dr.  Hare  became  a  University  professor. 
It  was  a  curious  coincidence  that  his    sons    should    successively 

succeed  Dr.  Hare  in  Philadelphia  in  later  years.     Dr.  .1; s  B. 

Rogers,  the  elder  son,  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1802,  the  eldest 
of  four  sons,  all  of  whom  were  eminent  in  the  natural  sciences, 
notably  in  chemistry  and  geology.  He  was  educated  in  Baltimore 
and  in  the  college  of  William  and  Mary,  where  his  father  held  the 
chair  of  Chemistry,  and  began  his  medical  studies  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  Thomas  E.  Bond.  Entering  the  medical  department  of  the 
University  of  Maryland,  he  graduated  in  1822  and  began  his  first 
practice  in  a  small  town  in  Lancaster  County,  Pennsylvania,  but 
soon  returned  to  Baltimore  and  began  a  varied  career  as  professor 
in  Washington  Medical  College,  lecturer  in  the  Mechanics'  Insti- 
tute, superintendent  of  chemical  works,  and  chemist,  with  his 
brother  William,  in  state  geological  surveys.  He  also  served  four 
years  in  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  the  medical  department  of  <'in- 
cinnati  Medical  College.  Returning  to  Philadelphia  in  1840,  he  was 
associated  with  his  brother  Henry  in  a  state  geological  survey,  and 
soon  became  an  instructor  and  examiner  of  medical  students.  This 
led  to  his  becoming  a  lecturer  on  Chemistry  in  the  Medical  Institute 
in  1841,  and  in  Franklin  Institute  three  years  later.  It  was  during 
this  period  that  he  and  his  brother,  Robert  E.  Rogers,  the  chemist, 
compiled  a  volume  on  chemistry,  which  was  published  in  1846. 
The  following  year,  when  he  was  forty-five  years  of  age.  he  was 
called  to  the  University  to  succeed  Dr.  Hare,  after  having  become 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Franklin  Medical  College,  which  Hour- 


•22i  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ished  for  a  couple  of  years.  He  had  become  prominent  in  the 
scientific  organizations  and  was  one  of  the  original  members  of 
the  American  Medical  Association.  The  Rogers  family  were  of 
delicate  physical  constitution,  and  Dr.  James  B.  Rogers  was  one  of 
the  frailest  of  them  all,  so  that  when  he  came  to  the  chair  of  the 
University  in  1847,  it  was  to  begin  a  career  of  only  five  years,  for 
he  died  in  1852  at  the  age  of  fifty-one.  "Dr.  Rogers  was  a  popular 
teacher,"  says  Dr.  Carson,  his  colleague,  "the  full  storehouse  of  hjs 
mind  was  drawn  upon  to  instruct  his  pupils,  and  no  pains  or  labor 
did  he  spare  to  make  easy  to  their  comprehension  the  important 
truths  he  taught.  In  one  portion  of  his  course  he  was  especially 
interesting;  this  was  organic  chemistry.  Of  late  years  it  has  be- 
come a  prominent  department  of  medical  science,  and  from  the 
success  with  which  it  has  been  cultivated,  will  become  ultimately  so 
interwoven  with  medicine  as  to  require  a  large  share  of  attention 
from  medical  students.  Physiology  and  pathology  are  not  the  only 
branches  to  which  organic  chemistry  is  essential;  therapeutics  is 
gradually  becoming  amenable  to  its  disclosures.  The  development 
of  the  mode  of  action  of  medicines  to  which  organic  chemistry  has 
led  has  dissipated  much  uncertainty,  and  explained  many  phenom- 
ena which,  although  seen,  were  not  understood.  By  demonstrating 
the  importance  of  research  upon  the  subject,  and  creating  an  inter- 
est in  them,  Dr.  Rogers  bestowed  important  service,  and  it  was 
apparent  that,  in  its  reaction  upon  other  branches,  his  mode  of 
teaching  materially  aided  the  exertions  of  his  associates." 

His  youngest  brother,  Dr.  Robert  E.  Rogers,  who  had  collabo- 
rated with  him  in  his  first  publication,  was  then  a  man  of  almost 
forty  years,  the  occupant  of  a  like  chair  in  the  University  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  was  considered  the  natural  successor  to  the  vacancy.  He 
had  written  to  one  of  his  brothers,  during  his  twentieth  year,  "my 
private  desire  always  has  been,  and  I  think  always  would  be,  to 
follow,  if  possible,  in  your  career;  to  become  an  instructor."  Born 
in  Baltimore  in  1813,  he  lost  both  parents  while  still  a  boy,  and 
from  the  age  of  fifteen  came  largely  under  the  directing  influence 
of  his  brother  William,  who  became  a  professor  in  both  William 
and  Mary  College  and  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  was  director 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

of  the  Geological  Survey  of  thai   State.     Robert    E.  Rogers 
educated  al  William  and  Mary,  and  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
,ii  civil  engineering,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine  under 
Dr.  Hare,  probably  aboul   L833,  and  graduated  from  tin-  medical 
department  of  the  University  in  L836.     1 1  is  thesis  had  the  lionor  ol 
publication  in  the  American  Jouimal  oj    Medical  Sciences.     He  bad 
evidently  found  his  proper  held  <>r  work  and  was  al  once  made 
c  Ik  mi  list  to  the  first  Geological  Survey  of  Pennsylva  nia,  of  which  his 
brother  I  [enry  was  director.     He  soon  became  a  prominent  member 
of  the  scentific  societies,  and  made  a  uame  as  a  lecturer  before  the 
Franklin  Institute,  especially  in  electricity.     Ii  was  in  imi  thai  he 
was  called  to  the  University  <>f  Virginia  to  deliver  the  course  <»f 
chemical  lectures,  which  was  Interrupted  by  whal  proved  to  !»<•  the 
fatal  illness  of  the  professor,  I>r.  John  P.  Emmet,  whom,  in  the 
following  year,  he  succeeded  in  the  chair  of  <  Jhemisl  ry  and  Materia 
Medica.     It  was  here  thai  lie  spent,  ten  years  of  successful  work, 
becoming  also  widely  known  through  his  activity  in  the  American 
.Medical  Association,  and  it  was  from  this  chair  thai  he  was  called 
in  L852  to  succeed  his  brother,  Dr.  John  B.  Rogers,  in  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania.     In  his  new  office  lie  proved  himself  abundantly 
able  to  carry  on  (he  work  of  his  elder  brother,  and  he  here  resumed 
his  prominence  in  scientific  circles.     He  also  made  a  reputation  as 
a  medico-legal  expert  in  toxicology.     Indeed,  his  mind  was  marvel- 
ously  practical,  inventive,  many-sided  and  rich  in  resources.     In 
L862,  he  was  made  an  acting  assistant   surgeon  for  service  in  the 
greal  military  hospital  in  West   Philadelphia,  and  lost  his  hand  in 
overseeing- a  practical  invention  intended  to  facilitate  the  laundry 
work  of  that  great  institution.  Two  years  later,  he  was  chosen,  with 
a  colleague,  to  investigate  the  processes  of  refining  silver  at    the 
Philadelphia   mint,  and    his   work  was  so  effective   thai    ii    led    to 
extensive  reforms,  not  only  in  this  mint,  hut  in  thai  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, ami  in  the  Assay  Office  at  New  York,  all  of  which  were  exe- 
cuted under  his  direction.     He  also  served  on  the  Assay  Commis- 
sion  for  several   years,   and    as  chemist    to    the    Philadelphia    Ga,8 
Trust.     In  1877,  he  had  been  twenty-five  years  in  the  chair  made 
famous  by  Rush,  Woodhouse,  Hare,  and  his  brother,    when    the 

15 


226  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

University  undertook  some  far-reaching  changes  in  its  curriculum 
and  general  methods,  which,  excellent  as  they  have  since  proved r 
were  then  regarded  with  disapproval  by  some,  among  whom  was 
Dr.  Eogers.  During  the  lecture  season  he  was  offered  the  chair  of 
Chemistry  and  Toxicology  in  Jefferson  Medical  College  and 
accepted  it.  He  was  now  sixty-four  years  of  age  and  spent  only 
seven  years  in  his  new  position,  so  that  his  career  is  properly  identi- 
fied with  the  University.  He  died  in  1884,  in  his  seventy-second 
year,  widely  honored  and  beloved,  a  popular  instructor,  the  idol  of 
his  large  classes,  genial  and  amiable;  known  for  his  integrity, 
courtesy,  energy  and  gentleness.  The  year  before  his  death  he  was 
honored  by  Dickinson  College  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws. 

Two  years  before  Dr.  Eogers'  election  to  the  Faculty  of  the 
University,  namely,  in  1850,  Dr.  Joseph  Carson  had  become  the 
successor  of  Dr.  Wood  in  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics, at  the  age  of  forty-two.  Dr.  Carson  was  essentially  a  learned 
man  and  of  a  peculiarly  calm  and  judicial  poise  of  mind,  so  that  his 
style  has  the  ordered  solidity  of  a  Supreme  Court  decision,  and 
leaves  one  with  a  feeling  of  absolute  confidence  in  both  his  mental 
processes  and  their  result.  He  came  of  a  line  of  Scotch  Presby- 
terians and  early  Philadelphians  prominent  in  the  merchant-ship- 
ping interests.  Born  in  Philadelphia  in  1808,  he  was  educated  at 
two  well-known  local  academies,  and  at  the  University,  receiving 
his  classical  diploma  in  1826,  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  While  employed 
in  the  wholesale  drug  house  of  a  Dr.  Lowber,  who  was  much  inter- 
ested in  botany,  young  Carson  became  attracted  to  this  and  kindred 
sciences,  and  determined  to  study  medicine.  Meantime  he  had 
shown  those  talents  for  patient  observation  and  research  which 
characterized  his  entire  life,  and  his  enthusiasm  for  medical  botany 
gave  new  scope  for  them.  Dr.  Thomas  T.  Hewson  became  his  pre- 
ceptor, and  the  University  graduated  him  in  1830,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two.  He  became  resident  physician  in  the  old  Philadelphia, 
or  Almshouse  Hospital,  then  at  Tenth  and  Pine  streets,  with  Ger- 
hard, Morris  and  others  as  his  colleagues;  but  before  undertaking 
private  practice  concluded  to  ship  for  one  year  as  surgeon  on  an 
East  India  vessel.     This  voyage  produced  results  in  the  form  of  a 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

carefully  kepi  jouma]  of  scientific  observation,  which  attracted 
some  attention.  In  L832,  be  began  practice,  and  three  years  Later 
was  enrolled  among  the  members  of  the  Academy    of    National 

Sciences  mid  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  in  both  of  which 

bodies  he  was  a  highly  valued  member.  In  L836,  he  was  elected 
Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  edited 
the  American  Journal  of  Pliarmacy.  In  ;i«l«liii<>ii  to  this  work  he 
was,  in  L844,  associated  with  Gerhard,  Goddard,  the  elder  Rogers, 

Men-is  and  others,  in  the  Medical  Institute,  where  he  lectured  <>u 
Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy;  and  it  was  from  these  positions 

that,  in  1850,  he  was  called   to  the  chair  made  so  popular  by   Dr. 

George  B.  Wood.   For  twenty-sis  years  he  tilled  this  position  with 

ability  anil  success.  He  also  held  many  important  posit  ions  in  the 
great  scientific  and  professional  organizations,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  American  Medical  Association.  His  writings  were 
numerous  and  varied,  but  his  history  of  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  must  always  cause  his  name  to  be  thoroughly  identi- 
fied with  that  great  institution.  He  resigned  his  chair  in  1876,  in 
his  Sixty-ninth  year,  and  died  before  its  dose,  when  his  native  city 
had  just  celebrated  the  nation's  centennial.  Sixteen  years  of  his 
life  were  devoted  to  the  University. 

In  1853,  three  years  after  <  /arson's  election,  another  new  mem- 
ber, destined  to  make  a  name  equal  to,  if  not  more  famous  than 
that  of  any  of  his  predecessors,  came  to  the  chair  once  occupied 
by  Shippen,  Wistar,  Physicls  and  Horner.  This  was  Dr.  Joseph 
Leidy,  of  whom  an  eminent  colleague  ul)  could  say  years  after,  that: 
he  was  ''the  profoundest  and  most  consummate  teacher  that  ever 
held  the  chair  of  Anatomy,  and  whose  fame  as  a  comparative  anat- 
omist, paleontologist,  geologist,  zoologist  and  botanist,  was  nol 
bounded  by  his  native  city  or  counf  ry,  but  was  co-extensive  with  1  ln- 
civilized  world.'"  Long  before  t  his  date  I  >r.  Leidy  had  been  a  friend, 
assistant  and  CO  laborer  with  several  of  the  faculty,  especially  Drs. 
Hare,  Rogers,  Wood  and  Horner.  He  had  supplied  Dr.  Horner's 
place  the  year  before  his  death,  so  thai  it  was  a  practically  foregone 
conclusion  that  the  amiable  and  Learned  naturalist  should  be  Hor- 


(d)    Dr.  Alfred  still.-. 


228  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ner's  successor.  From  boyhood  Dr.  Leidy  evinced  a  genius  for 
scientific  observation — though,  not  for  generalization.  He  was  an 
original  observer,  investigator  and  discoverer  in  the  fields  both  of 
gross  and  microscopic  anatomy  and  biology,  and  his  remarkable 
artistic  power  of  depicting  his  observations  added  vastly  to  the 
effectiveness  of  his  teachings  and  writings.  Some  of  his  drawings 
of  the  lower  forms  of  life  which  are  religiously  preserved  in  the 
College  of  Physicians,  are  marvels  of  artistic  skill. 

One  can  never  turn  to  Dr.  Leidy's  antecedents  without  recall- 
nig  his  striking  self -introduction  to  a  Philadelphia  audience  on  one 
occasion,  when  the  introducer  remarked  to  him  that  he  was  already 
better  known  than  the  introducer  himself,  whereupon  he  answered : 
"I  will  introduce  myself."  Stepping  to  the  front  he  said:  "My 
name  is  Joseph  Leidy,  Doctor  of  Medicine.  I  was  born  in  this  city 
on  the  9th  of  September,  1823,  and  have  lived  here  ever  since.  My 
father  was  Philip  Leidy,  the  hatter,  on  Third  street,  above  Tine. 
My  mother  was  Catherine  Mellick,  but  she  died  a  few  months  after 
my  birth.  My  father  married  her  sister,  Christina  Mellick,  and  she 
was  the  mother  I  have  known,  who  was  all  in  all  to  me,  the  one  to 
whom  I  owe  all  that  I  am.  At  an  early  age  I  took  great  delight  in 
natural  history  and  in  noticing  all  natural  objects.  I  have  reason 
to  think  that  I  know  a  little  of  natural  history,  and  a  little  of  that 
little  I  propose  to  teach  you  to-night."  Christina  Mellick  Leidy 
was  one  of  those  intelligent,  thoughtful  women  with  a  tincture  of 
the  poetic  temperament,  who  seem  to  have  almost  prophetic  intui- 
tions. Although  the  Leidys  had  been  plain  Ehenish-German 
Americans,  from  the  time  of  Penn,  she  believed  that  a  career  more 
brilliant  than  that  of  his  ancestors  was  in  store  for  her  step-son, 
and  it  was  through  her  influence  that  he  was  thoroughly  educated. 
He  was  accordingly  entered  as  a  pupil  at  the  age  of  ten  in  a  Classi- 
cal Academy  conducted  by  a  Methodist  minister.  He  had  already 
shown  a  remarkable  interest  in  plants  and  minerals  and  sought 
many  a  companion  among  both  boys  and  men  who  happened  to 
know  more  about  them  than  he.  One  day  a  visiting  lecturer  at. 
the  school  talked  to  the  pupils  on  mineralogy,  and,  from  that  time, 
the  subject  of  natural  history  became  young  Leidy's  ruling  passion, 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

and  prompted  him  to  begin  a  more  systematic  course  of  study. 
Thereafter  the  gb  as  of  the  Wassahickon,  the  Schuylkill,  Bartram's 
Gardens,  and  the  fields  and  rocks  for  miles  around  became  his 
favorite  schools.  A  small  book  of  drawings  of  shells  made  by  him 
in  his  tenl  1 1  year,  displayed  the  artistic  power  and  keen  observation 
thai  were  ever  after  so  marked  a  feature  of  his  scientific  work.  Hi  his 
sixteenth  year, through  his mo1  her's  influence,he  was  placed  with  an 
apothecary  and  rapidly  became  efficienl  enough  to  i><-  left  in  charge 
ol  the  shop.  This  determined  liis  mother  to  permil  him  to  study 
medicine,  and  in  1840,  he  began  his  medical  curriculum  with  I  >r. 
James  McClintoek,  the  founder  <»f  the  private  school  of  Anatomy. 
When  thai  gentleman  was  called  away  in  1841,  young  Leidy  entered 
the  University  and  chose  Dr.  Paul  B.  Goddard,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  and  assistant  to  Dr.  Horner,  as  his  preceptor.  His  thesis 
on  his  graduation  in  1S44.  Tin  Comparative  Anatomy  of  tin  bJy<  of 
Vi  rtebrated  I  nimate,  was  remarkably  indicative  of  the  main  features 
of  his  future  life  work,  so  far  as  the  science  of  medicine  was  con- 
cerned. He  was  not  destined  for  the  practice  of  medicine,  all  hough 
he  essayed  it;  he  was  born  a  scientist,  and,  on  his  graduation,  be- 
came assistant  to  Dr.  Hare  and  later  to  I>r.  Rogers,  the  elder.  In 
1845,  he  became  prosector  to  1  >r.  Horner,  and  the  next  year  was 
demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  Franklin  Medical  College.  During  this 
period  lie  was  also  coroner's  physician.  I>r.  Horner  took  him  to 
Europe  in  1848,  to  aid  him  in  making  models  and  drawings  of  speci- 
mens in  various  hospitals  and  elsewhere;  as  did  also  Dr.  Wood,  t  w<> 
years  later.  (  Mi  his  return,  he  was  given  two  or  t  hree  medical  posi- 
tions, one  of  which  was  that  of  lecturer  in  Dr.  Chapman's  Medical 
Institute,  and  he  at  once  took  prominent  rank  in  the  scientific  and 
professional  organizations  of  the  city. 

In  1852,  when  he  was  not  yel  thirty  years  of  age,  he  was  asked 
to  supply  Dr.  Horner's  course  of  lectures,  and  the  following  year 
became  his  successor.      "My  recollections  of  1  M*.  Leidy,"  writes  Dr. 

J.  ,F.  Levick,  "go  back  to  the  days  when  he  occupied  a  room  in  the 
rear  of  Dr.  Goddard's  house  on  Ninth  street,  opposite  the  Univer- 
sity, from  which,  a  little  later,  he  moved  to  a  house  on  Sanson) 
street,  above  Ninth.      1  was  a  student  of  medicine  and  knew   him  as 


230  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

a  hard-working  young  physician,  bent  on  supporting  himself,  and 
compelled  to  be  content  with  doing  it  in  a  very  moderate  way.  I 
heard  him  give  his  first  lecture  on  Anatomy  in  the  amphitheater  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  place  of  Professor  Horner, 
then  unable,  from  ill  health,  to  lecture.  We  were  all  on  the 
qui  vive  to  hear  what  he  would  say  by  way  of  introduction.  I  recall 
that  there  was  a  little  nervous  swing  as  he  came  in  the  lecture 
room.  No  words  were  wasted  by  way  introduction,  but  plunging 
in  medias  res  he  gave  a  good,  intelligent  lecture  with  apparent  self- 
possession.  Many  years  later  he  told  me  that  he  had  lain  in  a 
warm  bath  for  an  hour  before  the  lecture  to  get  his  nervous  system 
thoroughly  calm  for  the  effort."  His  success  was  assured  from 
that  moment.  His  scientific  papers  cover  a  wide  range  of  subjects 
and  have  made  his  name  immortal,  but  we  are  here  concerned 
solely  with  his  relations  to  medical  science.  In  1861,  he  published 
his  Elementary  Treatise  on  Human  Anatomy.  Some  excellent  work 
was  clone  by  him  in  1862-65  as  assistant  surgeon  in  the  great  Batter- 
lee  Hospital,  where  he  was  commissioned  to  conduct  and  describe 
autopsies,  the  results  of  which  form  a  valuable  part  of  the  Sur- 
geon-General's reports.  He  also  became  chief  surgeon  of  the  state 
military  department.  This  was  merely  somewhat  incidental  work, 
as  was  also  his  practice,  which  he  soon  abandoned  entirely,  to 
devote  himself  to  his  department  in  the  University,  which  occupied 
him  for  the  long  period  of  thirty-eight  years. 

Great  as  was  Dr.  Leidy's  work  in  the  medical  school,  he  was 
equally  distinguished  in  the  University  proper  as  head  of  the 
Department  of  Biology,  which  was  inaugurated  under  Provost  Pep- 
per in  1882;  in  which  also  he  held  the  chair  of  Zoology  and  Com- 
parative Anatomy,  and  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  biological  scheme.  This  he  considered  almost  as 
pastime.  "To  increase  knowledge  of  natural  things,  animate  or  in- 
animate, gigantic  or  microscopic,  seemed  to  be  a  ruling  passion,"  to 
use  the  words  of  another,  "and,  like  a  true  huntsman,  he  cared  less 
for  the  capture  than  for  the  pleasure  of  pursuing  his  game."  His 
most  congenial  alliance  was  with  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
and  it  is  probable  that  his  fame  will  rest  chiefly  on  his  work  in  that 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

department.  For  more  than  forty-four  years,  ii  lias  been  said,  "he 
virtually  directed  and  managed  the  affairs  of  the  museum,"  as  he 
was  chairman  of  the  board,  and  curator,  Librarian  or  president,  frdm 
L845,  the  first  year  of  his  membership,  to  the  close  of  his  life.  Bis 
tirsi  important  publication  in  the  Proceedings  <»t'  this  body  bore 
the  tiil<-.  Special  Anatomy  of  Ui<  Terrestrial  Gasteropoda  of  tfu  I  nited 
States.  It  was  in  lsiT  that  he  discovered  that  Trichina  Spiralis 
Found  entrance  into  the  human  body  by  the  use  of  hog's  flesh,  lie 
was  the  first  to  announce  this  fact,  which  may  be  considered  one  of 
his  most  valuable  contributions  to  medical  science.  The  medical 
interest  attached  to  t his  discovery  is  so  great  that  some  details  of 
the  steps  by  which  it  was  reached  may  be  acceptable.  Hilton  of 
England,  in  1832,  first  observed  the  encapsuled  trichinae  in  human 
muscle,  but  mistook  them  for  cysticerci.  Paget,  at  that  time  a  med- 
ical student,  next,  described  them,  and  did  so  without  knowledge  of 
Hilton's  observations.  Owen,  the  celebrated  anatomist,  shortly 
afterward  described  them  more  fully  and  gave  the  parasite  the 
name  of  trichina  spiralis.  Leidy  was  the  first  to  detect  the  trichina 
in  the  hog  and  he  recognized  it  as  identical  with  a  parasite  which 
lie  had  previously  observed  in  human  muscle.  To  Leidy,  therefore, 
belongs  the  credit  of  having  first  detected  the  identity  of  "trich- 
inosis" in  man  and  in  the  hog,  although  it  was  not  until  1800  that 
the  clinical  symptoms  of  the  affection  were  described  by  Zenker  of 
Dresden,  Germany.  In  1871,  he  was  also  made  Professor  of  Nat- 
ural History  at  Swarthmore  College,  and  three  years  later  Harvard 
called  him  to  her  anatomical  chair,  but  he  declined  the  latter  ap- 
pointment. He  was  extensively  sought  after  and  largely  engaged 
in  national  geological  and  geographical  surveys.  In  1870,  he  pub- 
lished his  famous  work  on  Rhizopods.  Princeton  also  gave  him  a 
call  to  her  scientific  post-graduate  faculty,  but  in  vain.  The  Wag- 
ner Free  Institute  of  Science  secured  him  as  the  head  of  its  biolog- 
ical depart  meiii.  His  numerous  publications  and  his  general  work 
won  him  prizes  on  both  continents  and  the  degree  of  Doctor  "t" 
Laws  from  two  institutions,  one  of  which  was  Harvard  (1886).  jj,. 
was  a  large  man,  of  powerful  frame.  "Joseph  Leidy  inherited  excel- 
lent constitution  of  mind  and  body,"  said  President   Wharton  of 


232  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Swarthmore,  "lie  was  transparently  sincere  and  absolutely  devoted 
to  truth;  he  was  remarkably  devoid  of  selfishness  in  any  form;  he 
had  persistent  and  life-long  diligence;  he  was  systematic  in  his 
expenditure  and  careful  in  his  economy  of  time;  he  held  firmly  to 
whatever  he  undertook;  his  temper  was  cheerfully  equable  and  his 
disposition  affectionate."  He  died  in  1891,  nearly  sixty-eight  years 
of  age,  and  without  having  made  an  enemy  during  that  long  period. 
"It  makes  a  difference  to  the  world  when  such  a  man  passes  away," 
said  the  Provost,  Dr.  Pepper,  before  the  Congress  of  American 
Physicians  in  Washington.  "At  his  birth  nature  gave  him  her 
accolade,  and  all  his  life  long  he  was  loyal  to  the  holy  quest  of 
truth,  which  is  the  vow  imposed  on  those  whom  she  invests  as  her 
chosen  knights."  But,  with  all  his  great  career  as  a  naturalist,  to 
him  medicine  had  secondary  interest.  The  question  as  to  how  he 
filled  the  chair  of  Wistar  and  of  Physick  may  be  answered  in  the 
following  words:  "Dr.  Leidy  taught  pure  anatomy,"  says  Dr.  Hunt, 
"others  of  us  applied  the  knowledge  he  gave.  This  was  all  he  said 
he  would  do  or  engage  to  do.  I  mention  this  for  you  who  are  not 
familiar  with  such  matters.  Think  of  this!  could  a  man  enjoy 
higher  praise  than  to  know  that  for  thirty-eight  years  he  filled 
without  objection  a  practical  chair  in  an  essentially  practical 
school,  for  science,  and  science  alone?  In  all  that  time,  no  jealous 
aspirant  even  whispered,  'This  chair  must  be  practically  filled.' 
The  luster  he  threw  about  the  University  dimmed  or  quenched  all 
jealousies  by  its  brightness.  Professors,  students,  and  all,  behold 
how  they  loved  him!"  Besides  Leidy,  another  protege  of  Di\ 
Horner,  and  also  his  son-in-law,  joined  the  faculty  in  1855,  as  the 
successor  of  Gibson,  whom  he  had  long  assisted  as  a  clinical  lec- 
turer. Like  Leidy,  too,  he  was,  when  elected,  about  forty  years  of 
age  and  was  a  Philadelphia!!.  Dr.  Henry  H.  Smith  was  born  in 
1815,  the  son  of  an  eminent  lawyer,  James  S.  Smith,  and  received 
his  early  education  in  a  well-known  classical  school.  Graduating 
from  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Horner's  direction  in 
the  medical  department,  which  gave  him  his  diploma  three  years 
later.     After  two  years'  service  as  resident  physician  at  the  Penn- 


IN    PHIL  ^DELPHI  \. 

sylvania  Hospital,  he  went  i<»  Europe,  where  Ue  spent  eighteen 
months  in  extensive  study  in  the  great  hospitals  "I  London,  Paris 
and  Vienna,  and  in  other  institutions.  In  L841,  on  his  return,  he 
published  a  translation  of  Civiale's  work  on  tlie  treatment  of  stone 
and  gravel,  which  attracted  attention  and  conduced  i<»  his  success 
as  a  private  lecturer  on  surgery.  He  publish*-.!  other  works  in  t  h<- 
next  few  years,  and  his  reputation  as  ;i  surgeon  soon  led  to  his 
election  to  tlie  staff  of  St.  Joseph's,  the  Episcopal  and  the  Philadel- 
phia Hospitals.  He  joined  the  last  mentioned  institution  in  L854, 
when  clinical  instruction  had  been  forbidden  in  ii  for  nine  years. 
It  was  through  his  influence,  together  with  that  <d  l>rs.  Penrose, 
Ludlow,  Reese  and  Agnew,  that  it  was  again  temporarily  restored 
in  October  of  that  year,  and  permanent  ly  in  L859.  His  book  on  the 
work  of  American  surgeons  was  also  well  received.  In  L855,  he 
and  Gerhard,  Agnew,  Henry,  Penrose  and  Parrish  revived  a  private 
Bchool  under  the  name  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  it  was  in  that 
year  that  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Surgery  in  the  University, 
to  succeed  Dr.  Gibson.  In  L863,  he  issued  his  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Surgery,  embracing  the  substance  of  his  three  treatises  on 
Minor  Surgery,  operative  Surgery  and  the  Practice  of  Surgery. 
This  was  his  greatest  work.  Dr.  Smith  and  Dr.  Agnew  were  col- 
leagues at  the  University,  and  the  latter  was  occasionally  asked 
to  supply  a  lecture  for  him  in  emergencies,  occasioned  by  the 
exigencies  of  surgical  practice.  At  the  opening  of  the  war  Gov- 
ernor Cm-tin  appointed  him  Surgeon-General  of  Pennsylvania,  to 
organize  the  State  Hospital  Department.  In  this  capacity  he  inaug- 
urated the  removal  of  soldiers  to  large  hospitals,  and  was,  no  doubt, 
influential  in  leading  the  hospital  movement  to  Philadelphia.  He 
resigned  this  position  near  the  close  of  L862,  however,  and,  although 
largely  engaged  in  military  surgery,  gave  his  chief  attention  to 
private  practice  and  to  his  professorship,  in  which  he  is  said  to 
have  been  "quiet,  fluent,  self-possessed,  systematic  and  thorough." 
He  was  a  member  of  varions  scientific  and  professional  organiza- 
tions, and  in  later  years  became  especially  prominent  in  the  comity, 
state  and  national  and  international  bodies,  serving  as  chairman 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Ninth  international  Medical  Con- 


234  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

gress  of  1887,  and  president  of  the  section  on  Naval  and  Military 
Surgery.  He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  after  many  years  of 
active  practice  as  a  surgeon.  The  ability  of  Dr.  Smith  was  some- 
what less  prominently  before  the  public  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
life,  probably  because  of  the  overshadowing  fame  of  his  great  suc- 
cessor in  the  chair  of  Surgery.  After  sixteen  years  of  active  work 
as  an  instructor,  during  the  trying  and  critical  period  of  the  civil 
war,  circumstances,  it  is  believed  honorable  to  all  concerned,  led  to 
his  becoming  emeritus  professor  in  1871,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven 
years,  and  to  the  choice  of  Dr.  Agnew  as  his  successor.  That  his 
eminent  abilities  have  been  recognized  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
in  1885  he  was  honored  by  Lafayette  College  with  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Laws. 

Long  before  1871,  however,  it  had  become  evident  that  a  sur- 
geon of  remarkable  ability  was  acting  in  the  capacity  of  clinical 
assistant  to  both  Drs.  Leidy  and  Smith,  his  official  titles  in  1863 
being  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Assistant  Lecturer  on  Clinical 
Surgery.  This  man  had  come  out  of  the  old  School  of  Anatomy, 
which,  under  his  able  instruction,  attained  the  greatest  fame  of 
its  long  career.  Even  the  two  great  medical  schools  were  conscious 
of  the  rivalry  of  this  extra-mural  institution,  whose  students,  under 
Agnew,  numbered  nearly  three  hundred.  Dr.  D.  Hayes  Agnew 
was  by  no  means  a  young  man  when  he  took  charge  of  the  School 
of  Anatomy  in  1852.  Having  been  born  in  1818,  he  was  thirty-four 
years  old  when  he  began  his  notable  work  in  Chant  street.  He 
began  with  nine  students,  and  before  many  seasons  the  capacity 
of  the  school  was  taxed  to  its  utmost  limit  In  1854,  he  opened  a 
School  of  Operative  Surgery  in  the  second  story  of  the  same  build- 
ing, and  this  achieved  an  equal  success.  Among  his  assistants  were 
Drs.  E.  J.  Barclay,  J.  E.  Sanderson,  E.  J.  Levis,  William  Flynn,  J.  K. 
Kane,  M.  J.  Asch,  D.  E.  Eichardson,  J.  T.  Darby,  Eobert  Boiling, 
J.  W.  Lodge,  S.  W.  Gross  and  James  E.  Garretson.  "The  lecture- 
room  of  the  School  of  Anatomy,"  writes  Dr.  J.  Howe  Adams,  "was 
built  in  imitation  of  the  ordinary  lecture-room  of  a  medical  college. 
It  had  tier  above  tier  of  benches,  rising  so  abruptly  above  each 
other  that  the  seventh,  or  highest  row,  was  fully  twenty  feet  above 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

the  arena.  It  may  be  interesting  to  those  who  have  sat  for  hours 
upon  the  ordinary  clinique-room  bench,  which  Beems  always  to  i»«- 
made  of  hoards  |>art icalarly  unyielding  in  their  texture,  t<>  know 
thai  these  benches  were  covered  with  cushions.  This  unparalleled 
luxury  was  the  only  portion  of  the  'royal  road  to  learning5  reached 
by  the  embryo  anal isl  of  i  5han1  street.  In  the  arena  was  a  revolv- 
ing table,  on  which  the  cadaver  to  be  demonstrated  could  be  placed. 
•Over  this  was  ;i  series  of  lights,  so  arranged  as  to  I  brow  their  illumi- 
nations over  tin-  lecturer  and  tin-  subject  Banging  in  mid-air.  by 
;i  wire  from  the  ceiling,  was  a  skeleton,  which  could  ho  lowered 
when  needed.  On  a  shell'  back  of  the  lecturer  stood  a  number  of 
statues,  representing,  classically,  the  human  form.  One  \va- 
representation  of  Hercules,  another  of  Mercury,  a  third  of  Venus. 
and  a  fourth  'The  Discus  Thrower.'  '  Here  it  was  that  he,  with  his 
crowds  of  students,  large  numbers  of  them  Southerm-i  s, 
attracted  the  attention  of  Dr.  Smith.  As  early  as  1858,  he  began 
assisting  the  latter  in  his  clinics,  and  continued  in  the  Oniversitj 
in  this  unofficial  capacity  until  his  appointment  as  Demonstrator 
of  Anatomy  by  Dr.  Leidy  in  1863.  For  seven  years  thereafter,  hav- 
ing in  the  meantime  sold  his  school  to  Dr.  Garretson,  he  gave  his 
attention  to  the  University,  which  thus  secured  the  popular  head 
of  the  Chant  street  school  and  all  his  influence.  In  1870,  Dr.  Agnew 
became  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  University  in  virtue  of  his 
election  to  the  chair  of  Clinical  Surgery.  This  position  had  been 
vacant  since  its  resignation  by  Dr.  George  W.  Norris  in  1857,  but 
was  revived  in  order  to  make  Dr.  Agnew  a  full  member  of  the 
faculty.  The  following  year  Dr.  Smith  resigned  and  was  made 
emeritus  professor,  and  Dr.  Agnew  was  chosen  his  successor. 
Agnew  was  now  in  his  fifty-third  year,  a  fact  thai  shows  unusual 
patience,  in  so  able  a  man,  in  waiting  for  full  recognition  of  hi* 
services.  This,  however,  was  not  needed  to  add  to  his  prestige, 
for  his  talents  as  a  surgeon  and  instructor  were  already  widely 
recognized. 

The  early  life  of  Dr.  Agnew  was  uneventful.  The  Agnew,  or 
Agneaux,  family  is  of  Scotch  lineage,  and  one  of  the  oldest  Pennsyl- 
vania families  of  Franklin  County.    Dr.  Roberl  Agnew,  the  father 


236  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  D.  Hayes,  had  been  educated  under  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James,  and 
after  serving  as  surgeon  in  the  United  States  navy,  settled  in  Lan- 
caster County,  where  he  married  the  widow  of  an  eminent  Presby- 
terian divine,  Rev.  Ebenezer  Henderson,  and  spent  the  greater  part 
of  his  life.  It  was  there  that  their  only  son,  D.  Hayes  Agnew, 
was  born,  in  1818,  and  grew  up  with  a  marked  inclination  and  love 
for  the  profession  of  his  father.  He  was  educated  at  a  classical 
academy,  Jefferson  College,  at  Cannonsburg,  and  at  Newark  Col- 
lege, in  Delaware,  but  did  not  graduate.  After  studying  medicine 
under  his  father,  he  entered  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  Medical 
School  in  1836,  when  it  was  beginning  to  undergo  the  great  revival 
under  the  faculty  of  '35.  His  talent  for  anatomy  was  evident  during 
his  entire  course,  and  his  industry  equaled  it.  Graduating  in  183S, 
with  the  thesis  "Medical  Science  and  the  Responsibility  of  Medical 
Character,"  he  returned  to  assist  his  father  in  Xoblesville.  Late  in 
1841,  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Irwin  of  the  Pleasant 
Garden  Iron  Works,  in  Chester  County,  and,  after  Mr.  Irwin's  death 
in  1842,  was  induced  to  abandon  medicine  and  enter  the  firm  of 
which  his  father-in-law  had  been  a  member.  This  he  did  in  1843,  but 
the  depression  of  the  iron  trade,  during  the  years  succeeding  the 
panic  of  '37,  was  such  that  after  three  years  of  struggle  the  firm  was 
obliged  to  assign,  and  Dr.  Agnew  resumed  his  profession  with  the 
intention  of  paying  all  the  obligations  incurred  in  his  unhappy  busi- 
ness venture.  He  settled  in  Cochranville,  Chester  County,  and  began 
private  anatomical  study,  with  the  view  of  devoting  himself  solely 
to  surgery.  One  of  his  customs  was  that  of  putting  his  "subjects"  in 
a  pond  full  of  eels,  which  cleaned  their  bones  most  thoroughly.  It 
so  happened,  however,  that  the  favorite  eel-seller  of  the  region 
secretly  caught  his  eels  in  this  same  pond,  and  the  result  was  an 
unsavory  reputation  for  Dr.  Agnew.  Circumstances  finally  led  to 
his  permanent  location  in  Philadelphia,  on  Eleventh  street,  near 
the  School  of  An  atomy,  in  1848,  in  which  he  at  once  became  a 
private  student,  and  four  years  later  took  sole  charge  of  it,  as  has 
been  described. 

During  the  next  ten  years  his  practice  grew  rapidly,  and  his 
consultation  work  became  extensive,  so  that  by  the  opening  years 


H     MAVl'S    AGNEW 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

of  I  he  war  tie  was  generally  acknowledged  one  of  the  first  surgeons 
•  if  Philadelphia.  Various  hospital  positions  came  bo  him,  and  he 
published  some  works  of  importance,  his  "Practical  Anatomy" 
being  one  of  them.  In  L862,  he  entered  I  he  military  hospital  service, 
and  had  duties  at  Satterlee,  Hestonville,  Mower  and  in  the  volun- 
teer service,  the  mosl  of  his  work  being  performed  al  Satterlee  and 
.Mower.  .\  i  Hestonville  he  was  surgeon-in-charge.  This  extensive 
experience  made  him  an  authority  on  gunshol  wounds,  and  by 
reason  of  it  lie  was  consulted  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
officers  of  the  army.  Among  these  was  General  Hancock,  whom 
he  cared  for  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  who,  as  a  result, 
became  his  personal  friend.  Many  years  later  (in  1880)  his  services 
were  demanded  for  a  still  more  prominent  citizen — President  Gar- 
field, in  whose  case  Agnew  was  the  principal  consultant.  During 
his  war  service  came  his  University  appointment,  both  of  which 
occupied  him  to  the  fullest  extent.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war 
he  joined  Drs.  T.  <i.  Morton,  H.  E.  Goodman  and  S.  \Y.  Gross  in 
founding  the  Orthopaedic  Hospital,  which  was  opened  for  patients 
in  February,  18GN.  These  gentlemen,  with  J  >is.  S.  ]).  Gross  and 
w.  \Y.  Norris,  as  consultants,  constituted  the  first  medical  staff. 

When  he  became  full  Professor  ol  Surgery  in  1871  he  infused 
new  life  into  his  department,  the  facilities  of  which  were  greatly 
increased  by  the  new  developments  attending  the  removal  of  the 
University  to  West  Philadelphia  in  1874.  Dr.  John  Neill,  and  later 
Dr.  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  were  associated  with  him,  and  he  took  part 
in  all  the  progress  of  that  period.  "Dr.  Agnew's  powerful  person- 
ality," said  the  Provost,  "made  itself  felt,  in  the  work  and  develop- 
ment of  the  Medical  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  from 
the  beginning  of  his  connection  with  it  down   to  the  last  days  of 

his  life It  was  most  fortunate  that    in   Agnew,   Leidy  and 

stiiie,  the  medical  faculty  contained  men  whose  names  and  char- 
acters were  towers  of  strength  during  these  years  of  struggle." 
Princeton  honored  him  with  the  degree  of  i  doctor  Of  Laws  in  L87  I. 
not  only  for  his  vigorous  work  as  a  surgeon,  but  also  for  his  con- 
tributions to  surgical  literature,  which  culminated  in  L878  in  his 
greatest  work,  "The  Principles  ami  Practice  of  Surgery,"  in  three 


-240  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

volumes.  This  work  displays  the  readiness  with  which  he  appre- 
ciated the  wonderful  possibilities  of  asepsis,  which  was  then  revolu- 
tionizing surgery,  although  this  was  but  one  of  its  elements  of 
greatness.  Great  as  were  Agnew's  writings,  however,  the  influ- 
ence of  his  kindly  personality,  that  led  to  his  being  called  the  "Dear 
Old  Man,"  a  title  conferred  upon  him  by  the  younger  Gross,  was 
probably  even  greater,  and  was  constantly  manifested  during  his 
ten  years  of  service  in  the  School  of  Anatomy,  and  for  over  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  in  his  work  as  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Pro- 
fessor of  Surgery  in  the  University,  of  which  he  became  emeritus 
professor  in  1889.  And  yet,  one  thinks  of  Agnew,  not  as  made 
greater  by  his  University  appointments  or  by  his  writings, 
or  merely  as  a  great  operative  and  consulting  surgeon,  but 
as  a  great  character,  Avhose  benign  personality,  clear  mind, 
sound  judgment,  precision  of  operation  and  absolute  confidence 
in  his  opinion,  gave  him  the  force  of  character  of  a  chief 
justice  in  medicine.  Someone  has  compared  him  to  Sir  Ast- 
ley  Cooper,  of  whom  it  has  been  written:  "His  influence 
did  not  arise  from  his  published  works,  nor  from  his  being  a 
lecturer,  nor,  indeed,  from  any  public  situation  which  he  held, 
although  each  of  these  circumstances  had  its  share  in  producing 
the  result;  but  it  seemed  to  originate  more  from  his  innate  love  of 
his  profession,  his  extreme  zeal  in  all  that  concerned  it,  and  his 
honest  desire,  as  well  as  great  power,  to  communicate  his  knowl- 
edge to  another,  without  at  the  same  time  exposing  the  ignorance 
of  his  listener  on  the  subject,  even  to  himself.  This  must  be  looked 
upon  as  one  great  cause  why  his  public  character  became  so  much 
diffused  by  his  professional  brethren,  for  he  owed  little  of  his 
advancement  in  life  to  patronage.  Another  peculiar  quality,  which 
proved  always  a  great  source  of  advantage  to  him,  was  his  thor- 
ough confidence  in  respect  to  his  professional  knowledge,  so  that 
after  he  had  once  examined  a  case  he  cared  but  little  who  was  to 
give  a  further  surgical  opinion  upon  it.  This  must  inevitably  have 
instilled  an  equal  degree  of  confidence  in  those  consulting  him." 
Dr.  J.  William  White  has  said  that  the  following  is  equally  descrip- 
tive of  both  Leidy  and  Agnew:   "Appreciation  of  his  rare  intellec- 


I\    PHILADELPHIA.  ill 

tual  gifts  was  forgotten  in  admiration  of  bis  sincere,  sweet-tem« 
pered,  loving  natn re.  Retiring  and  unassuming,  genial  and  kindly 
in  spirit  and  manner,  the  friend  of  all,  the  enemy  <»t'  none,  as 
approachable  as  a  child,  readj  ;i  t  ;i  1 1  times  and  with  evident  pleas 

ure  i"  give  the  i><  nefit  of  his  knowledge  to  ;ill  who  sought  it,  1mm 
death  will  be  mourned  wherever  science  is  valued  throughout  the 
earth;  but  we  especially  will  miss  his  kindly  face,  his  ready  band, 
his  cordial  greeting  and  his  noble  example  of  industry,  integrity 
and  manly  character."  His  rugged  constitution  began  to  show  its 
first  signs  of  failure  in  L888,  and  his  last  illness  came  in  the  spring 
of  L892,  causing  his  death  on  .March  l'l',  at  the  age  of  seventy-four 
years.  His  was  a  life  almost  contemporaneous  with  the  develop- 
ment of  modern  surgery,  and  his  prime  was  reached  at  a  time  when 
his  long  training  in  Chant  street,  had  prepared  him  for  the  fullest 
benefit  of  that  greater  school — the  hospitals  of  the  war  of  seces- 
sion; furthermore  his  sedulous  training  and  his  marvelous  capacity 
made  him  a  combination  of  specialists,  such  as  is  scarcely  possible 
under  present  developments  of  the  various  branches  of  medicine 
and  surgery"  (e). 

Three  years  before  Agnew's  subordinate  appointment,  the 
(hair  of  <  'hapman  and  Wood  received  a  new  occupant,  in  the  person 
of  Dr.  William  Pepper,  Sr.,  whose  brief  career  of  four  years,  as  Pro- 
fessor of  Theory  and  Practice,  terminated  in  the  spring  of  L864 
and  was  followed  by  his  decease  in  the  succeeding  autumn.  Dr. 
Pepper  was  one  of  that  band  of  University  students  who  were 
attracted  by  the  new  methods  of  Louis  and  the  French  school,  and 
through  them  and  his  own  personal  talents  he  had  become  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  conscientious  diagnosticians  in  the  city,  some 
time  before  he  was  called  to  his  University  work.  It  was  the  gen- 
eral opinion  of  the  profession  of  his  day  that  nothing  but  a  sturdy 
constitution  was  wanting  to  render  his  incumbency  of  the  chair 
of  Practice  at  least  as  brilliant  as  that  of  his  more  robust  prod.  - 
sors.     He  was  fifty  years  old  when  he  assumed   the  duties  of  his 

(e)  Dr.  Auiiow's  relations  with  various  BCientiflC  ami  professional  organisa- 
tions wore  extensive,  though  they  arc  overshadowed  by  his  greater  Influence  in 
more  individual  action.  n<-  was  president  of  the  CoUege  of  Physicians,  the  first 
surgeon  to  hold  the  office  since  Hewson. 


242  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

professional  chair.  Born  in  1810,  in  Philadelphia,  he  was  educated 
in  Princeton,  where  he  distinguished  himself  and  received  his 
degree  in  1828.  Soon  after,  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  medicine 
under  Dr.  T.  T.  Hewson,  and  a  year  later  began  his  course  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  Graduating  in  1832,  Dr.  Pepper  took 
a  most  active  part  in  the  fight  against  the  epidemic  of  Asiatic 
cholera  of  that,  year,  and  spent  most  of  the  summer  in  Bush  Hill 
Hospital.  Late  in  the  year  he  departed  for  Europe  to  study  in 
Paris,  and  there  did  excellent  work  under  the  various  great  leaders, 
particularly  Louis  and  Dupuytren,  who  became  his  personal 
friends.  It  was  here  that  ill  health  first  threatened  to  disturb  his 
plans  and  obliged  him  to  spend  a  winter  in  the  south  of  Europe. 
After  two  years  in  the  French  capital,  he  returned  to  Philadel- 
phia in  1834,  and,  beginning  practice,  assumed  charge  of  one  of 
the  dispensary  districts,  where  his  able  and  conscientious  work 
soon  drew  attention  to  him  as  a  skillful  diagnostician  and  physi- 
cian. He  rapidly  rose  in  professional  estimation,  joined  the  vari- 
ous medical  and  scientific  societies,  and  was  elected  to  several 
hospital  staffs,  among  them  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  lecturer  on  clinical  medicine, 
and  prepared  the  reputation  that  gave  him  the  University  chair  in 
1860.  "Dr.  Pepper  had  a  remarkable  faculty  in  inspiring  the  con- 
fidence of  his  patients,"  writes  Dr.  Kirkbride.  "Exceedingly  care- 
ful in  his  preliminary  examination,  when  he  did  express  an  opinion 
it  seemed  very  generally  to  carry  absolute  conviction  of  its  sound- 
ness to  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  The  general  accuracy  of 
his  diagnosis,  the  extreme  rarity,  certainly,  of  grave  errors  of  this 
description,  fully  justified  their  confidence.  In  the  later  years  of 
his  life  his  consultation  practice  was  exceedingly  large,  and  his 
professional  brethren,  who  so  often  sought  the  benefit  of  his  great 
skill,  I  am  sure  will  bear  me  out  in  saying  that  his  ability  in  the 
investigation  of  obscure  diseases  was  of  no  ordinary  kind,  and  the 
subsequent  complete  verification  of  his  opinions  in  such  doubtful 
cases  very  often  excited  surprise,  as  it  could  not  fail  to  inspire 
confidence."  These  qualities  could  not  fail  to  render  him  an 
impressive  teacher  and  to  secure  for  him  that  confidence  on  the 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

part  of   his  pupils  without    which    the  work  of    the    teacher   is 
\\  asted. 

The  year  before  his  death  the  chairs  of  ]  m-s.  Hodge  and  Jackson 
were  tilled  by  the  election  of  Drs.  R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  who  is  still  liv- 
ing, and  Dr.  Francis  ( ;  urney  Smi1  li,  respectn  <-l.\ .  This  was  in  1 863, 
the  year  Dr.  Agnew  became  assistant  to  Drs.  Leidy  and  Henry  If. 
Smith;  so  that  this  may  be  considered  the  date  at  \\  hich  the  aew 
period  was  inaugurated  in  the  University.  Dr.  Francis  G-urney 
Smith,  like  Gerhard,  Pennock,  Pepper,  Stilled  and  others,  was  one 
of  the  disciples  of  Louis  and  the  French  school,  and  was  chosen  to 
his  chair  over  competitors,  among  whom  was  Dr.  Brown-Sequard. 
He  was  well  advanced  in  life  when  he  attained  this  position,  being 
forty-five  years  of  age.  Dr.  Smith  was  a  worthy  successor  of  Jackson, 
and  has  the  honor  of  having  established  the  first  physiological 
laboratory  in  the  University.  He  was  the  son  of  the  eminent  Phila- 
delphia merchant  of  the  same  name,  and  was  born  in  1818.  Educa- 
tionally he  was  the  child  of  the  University,  having  received  his 
classical  degree  in  1837  and  his  medical  diploma  three  years  later, 
after  studying  under  the  preceptorship  of  his  brother,  Dr.  Thomas 
M.  K.  Smith  of  Brandywine,  near  "Wilmington,  Delaware.  After 
serving  as  resident  physician  at  the  Insane  Department  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  also  as  assistant  to  his  brother,  he 
began  practice  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  1842  became  one  of  the 
lecturers  of  the  "Medical  Association."  From  the  beginning  of  his 
career  he  was  especially  interested  in  physiology  and  obstetrics, 
but  this  tendency  to  specialism  did  not  prevent  his  becoming  one 
of  the  most  successful  general  practitioners  of  his  day.  ]\y  L844,  he 
was  an  editor  of  the  Medical  Examiner,  a  position  he  held  for  ten 
years.  He  joined  Dr.  J.  M.  Allen  in  his  school  of  private  instruc- 
tion, which  was  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  period,  and  from 
this  school  both  these  gentlemen  were  chosen,  in  1852,  to  the  new 
faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  of  Pennsylvania  College,  Dr. 
Smith  taking  the  chair  of  Physiology.  This  position  lie  held  for 
eleven  years  with  such  signal  success  that,  on  the  declining  health 
of  Dr.  Jackson  in  1863,  1  >r.  Smith  was  chosen  to  till  his  place  in  t  lie 
(hair  of  the  Inst  it  utes  of  Medicine.     In  1859,  he  was  elected  visiting 


■244  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

physician  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  there  exhibited  the 
qualities  of  a  good  clinical  lecturer.  He  was  one  of  the  first  staff 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Hospital.  When  the  war  opened  he 
was  also  on  the  staff  of  two  other  city  hospitals,  and  was  called 
to  direct  the  military  hospital  on  Christian  street,  a  position  he 
held  until  1863,  when  he  was  assigned  the  medical  care  of  wounded 
officers.  Dr.  Smith  had  also  become  prominent  in  professional  and 
scientific  societies  to  an  unusual  extent.  He  served  as  the  first 
president  of  the  Obstetrical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  and  vice- 
president  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  was  a  member 
of  numerous  other  medical  societies  of  this  and  other  states. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Dr.  Francis  Gurney  Smith  led  an 
extremely  active  life,  and  that  his  acquaintances,  both  professional 
and  lay,  must  have  been  numerous,  and  his  influence  widespread. 
He  was  an  experienced  teacher  of  physiology  when  he  succeeded 
Samuel  Jackson  at  the  University  in  1S63.  "As  a  lecturer,"  writes 
Dr.  Charles  B.  Xancrede,  "he  possessed  that  preeminent  qualifica- 
tion, the  power  of  arresting  and  retaining  the  interest  of  his  hear- 
ers. Clear  and  lucid  in  his  explanations,  he  was  yet  ever  ready  to 
explain  again.  Xot  satisfied,  as  so  many  men  would  have  been 
after  years  of  lecturing,  to  trust  to  their  memory  and  knowl- 
edge, up  to  the  very  last,  every  lecture  had  devoted  to  it  hours  of 
thought  and  reading.    He  delivered  his  lecture  extemporaneously, 

only  resorting  to  his  notes  for  long  quotations,  etc He 

was,  without  exception,  the  most  conscientious  lecturer  I  have 
ever  known;  nothing  was  left  to  chance.  Every  experiment  was 
tried  over  and  over  until  there  was  no  room  for  peradventure." 
This  testimony  of  one  who  assisted  Dr.  Smith  in  his  numerous 
class  demonstrations  is  of  great  interest  and  coincides  completely 
with  that  of  others  who  acted  as  his  assistants.  As  a  result  of  his 
conscientious  preparation,  his  lectures  were  marked  features  of 
The  University  medical  course,  and  were  crowded  with  the  most 
attentive  listeners.  He  was  a  cultured,  courteous  gentleman,  and 
receptive  of  new  knowledge  from  all  quarters.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  hypodermic  medication  in  this  city. 
His  extensive  practice  was  among  the  most  cultivated  classes  of 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Philadelphia.  lli>  retirement,  id  L877,  was  followed  the  next  year 
l»\  bis  death,  a1  the  age  of  sixty  years,  an  event  thai  w;is  undoubt- 
edly precipitated  by  long-continued  over-exertion. 

One  of  F.  G.  Smith's  colleagues  in  the  faculty  of  the  University 
was  Alfred  Stills,  whose  pari  in  Philadelphia  medicine,  once 
active,  lias  been  converted  by  the  infirmities  of  age  into  the  com- 
paratively passive  rdle  <>r  an  interested  and  critical  spectator  of 
<ii  in  mi  t  events.  The  chair  that  Dp.  Smith  held,  had,  under  Jackson, 
been  the  propagandist  of  French  methods  in  medicine,  and  ii  may 
be  said  thai  ii  was  the  elder  Pepper  and  Stille"  who  remodeled  the 
chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  according  to  those  methods.  Dr. 
Smith  look  his  chair  in  *»;:'>;  Dr.  Pepper  died  in  L864,  and  early  in 
thai  year  Dr.  Allied  stille  became  Ins  successor.  The  active  Uni- 
versity men  of  thai  time  were  Rogers,  Carson,  Leidy,  F.  <i.  Smith, 
Agnew,  Penrose  and  Stills,  all  of  whom  were  teachers  in  the  old 
building  on  Ninth  street,  as  well  as  in  the  present  Medical  Hall. 
The  following  were  members  of  the  auxiliary  faculty:  Drs.  Har- 
rison Allen,  Horatio  <  J.  Wood,  F.  V.  Harden,  I  [enry  Hartshorne  and 
John  J.  Reese.  Dr.  Stille'  is  now  an  octogenarian,  so  that  in  1864, 
when  he  assumed  the  duties  of  the  chair  of  Bush  and  Chapman, 
he  was  over  fifty  years  of  age,  and  had  acquired,  by  his  writings, 
an  international  reputation.  Probably  he  has  been  a  more  logical 
successor  of  Jackson  than  any  of  those  who  were  influenced  by  t  hat 
interesting  personality.  What  Gerhard  was  as  an  investigator  in 
French  methods,  it  could  probably  be  said  that  Stille  has  been  in 
the  philosophical  application  and  expression  of  them.  Dr.  Stille" 
has  been  both  aggressive  and  progressive,  and  has,  therefore,  been 
actively  concerned,  from  the  time  of  his  student  days  in  Paris  to 
the  present,  in  every  subject  connected  with  medical  progress.  It 
is  not  purposed  here  to  give  any  account  of  his  later  life;  but  it. 
may  be  of  interest  here  to  refer  to  so  much  of  his  early  career  as 
will  show  his  relation  to  the  period  described  in  this  chapter.  l>r. 
Stille^s  lineage  can  be  traced  much  farther  back  than  that  of  most 
Americans.  As  has  already  been  noticed  in  the  earliest  pages  »>f 
this  volume,  he  is  a  descendant  on  the  father's  side  of  one  of  the 
first  Swedish  colonies  on  the  Schuylkill  and  Delaware,  back  in  the 


248  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

days  of  the  barber-surgeon,  Jan  Petersen;  while  on  his  mother's 
side,  his  ancestry  can  be  traced  back  to  Chancellor  Wagner  of  the 
University  of  Tiibingen,  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
He  was  born  in  this  city  iu  1813,  and  was  educated  both  in  the 
classics  and  in  medicine  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  On 
receiving  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  in  1832,  he  began  the  study 
of  medicine  under  Dr.  Thomas  Harris,  and  entered  the  University. 
where  he  came  under  the  influence  of  Dr.  Jackson.  Graduating 
in  1836,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three,  he  served  as  resident  in  the 
Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  then  went  to  Paris.  Here  he  studied 
under  Louis  and  others  for  two  years  and  a  half,  and  visited  other 
hospital  centers,  returning  in  1839.  He  at  once  entered  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital  as  resident,  and  after  two  years'  service  began 
general  practice.  He  was  now  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  In  the 
next  few  years  he  found  time  to  publish,  with  Dr.  J.  F.  Meigs,  a 
translation  of  Andral's  "Pathological  Hematology,' '  and  the  fol- 
lowing year,  1815,  lie  became  lecturer  on  General  Pathology  and 
the  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Philadelphia  Association  for  Medi- 
cal Instruction.  It  was  during  these  years  that  he  became  an  influ- 
ential factor  in  the  movement  for  extending  the  term  of  medical 
instruction  and  for  the  general  elevation  of  medical  education, 
which  culminated  in  the  organization  of  the  American  Medical 
Association.  His  activity  and  prominence  in  this  body  have  been 
mentioned  elsewhere  in  these  pages.  Some  of  his  public  addressee 
attracted  widespread  attention,  and,  in  1848,  his  "Elements  of  Gen- 
eral Pathology"  served  still  further  to  enhance  his  reputation.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  staff  of  St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  in  1819,  and  five 
years  later  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine in  the  Medical  Department  of  Pennsylvania  College,  a  position 
he  continued  to  hold  up  to  the  year  of  the  great  student  secession 
of  1859.  In  1860,  he  issued  his  great  work  on  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics,  in  two  volumes,  which  passed  through  several  edi- 
tions within  two  decades.  When  the  war  opened  he  became  one  of 
the  staff  of  the  great  "Satterlee"  Hospital,  and  other  honors  came 
in  rapid  succession,  until  they  culminated  in  his  election  to  the 
chair  of  Theorv  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Universitv  of  Penn- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  249 

sylvania  in  L864.  The  highesl  honors  of  the  profession  have 
since  bees  awarded  liim,  nearly  ;ill  th<-  leading  societies  having 
<_:  i  \  <*n  hi  in  the  office  of  chief  executive.  In  his  career,  nothing  has 
been  recognized  so  fully  as  his  active,  and  even  aggressive,  sym- 
pathy with  ;ill  thai  he  considered  a  helpful  and  vital  pari  of  general 
medical  development.  In  consequence,  he  lias  been  identified  with 
a  I  most  every  movement  thai  is  now  a  part  of  the  most  valuable  con- 
ditions <>r  present-day  medicine.  Such  was  his  character  when,  in 
L859,  the  period  under  consideration  was  ushered  in  by  the  greal 
student  secession  that  introduced  the  civil  war  to  Philadelphia 
medical  circles. 

While  the  old  names  of  the  \  111  vorsi  t  V  f'aclllt  V  h;id  Keen  some- 
what rapidly  replaced  by  those  of  the  Rogers,  ('arson,  the  Smiths, 
Penrose,  Pepper,  Agnew,  Leidy  and  Still*'*,  the  old  names  of  Jeffer- 
son, by  which  she  conjured  such  wonderfully  large  bodies  of  stu- 
dents, much  more  slowly  gave  place  to  new  ones;  indeed,  it  may 
be  said  that,  if  Dr.  (Jross  be  regarded  as  a  member  of  the  old  fac- 
ulty, he  and  Pancoast,  in  Surgery  and  Anatomy,  wen-  still  the 
towering  figures  of  the  new  faculty  during  all  the  changes  incident 
to  the  accessions  of  Drs.  T.  1>.  Mitchell,  S.  H.  Dickson,  Bllerslie 
Wallace,  15.  Howard  Kami,  John  B.  Biddle,  J.  A.  Meigs,  -I.  M. 
Da  Costa  (f),  and  the  younger  Pancoast.  These  changes  occurred 
during  t  he  t  wenty  years  from  1856  to  t  he  (dose  of  t  his  period.  <  Jross, 
in  particular,  was  the  great  dominant  influence,  and  undoubtedly 
was  the  chief  factor  in  developing  a  western  and  northern  con 
stituency  to  replace  the  greal  losses  from  the  South,  occasioned  by 
the  exodus  of  students  from  that  section,  from  1859  to  the  opening 
of  the  war.  The  old  faculty,  however,  continued  virtually  in  exist- 
ence down  Into  the  civil  war  period,  for  besides  ( Jross  and  Pancoast, 
both  -Mitchell  and  Dickson  had  joined  it  before  '62,  when  Dr.  Wal- 
lace took  the  chair  of  <  >bstet  lies,  in  place  of  MeigS.  So  that  it  may 
be  said  that  the  period  was  divided  between  the  old  and  new 
faculties,  with  (Jross  and  Pancoast  as  the  dominant  and  uniting 
elements.  As  Pancoasl  and  the  members  of  the  old  order  have  been 
considered  elsewhere,  it  will  be  necessary,  in  order  to  ;i  proper 
if i    Dr.  l»;i  Costa's  full  professorship  came  so  late  in  tin*  period  as  ist-j. 


230  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

appreciation  of  the  influence  at  work  in  Jefferson,  and  through  her, 
on  the  profession  of  the  period,  to  gain  some  idea  of  the  characters 
of  the  members  of  her  faculty,  and  especially  of  the  character  of  the 
most  conspicuous  among  them,  Prof.  S.  D.  Gross.  Gross  was  con- 
siderably older  than  most  of  his  eminent  contemporaries,  who  are 
generally  associated  with  him  in  the  mind  of  the  public  (g).  He  was 
more  than  a  dozen  years  older  than  Agnew,  eighteen  years  in 
advance  of  Leidy,  and  eight  years  the  senior  of  Stille.  At  the  time 
of  his  death,  he  was  on  the  verge  of  being  an  octogenarian,  and 
his  mental  and  physical  powers  were  well  maintained  until  very 
near  his  end.  In  other  words,  his  personal  influence,  always  remark- 
able, was  also  unusually  protracted. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  operations  of  surgery  appeal  more 
powerfully  to  the  imagination  of  the  public  than  the  processes  of 
induction  by  which  the  physician  arrives  at  his  diagnosis  and 
determines  his  treatment.  When  the  surgeon  combines  with  a  pro- 
found knowledge  of  his  art,  a  majestic  presence  and  courtly  man- 
ners, he  is  almost  deified  by  his  patients  and  worshiped  by  his 
pupils.  Dr.  Gross  was  a  man  of  this  type,  and,  doubtless,  partly 
because  of  the  physical  gifts  so  richly  bestowed  upon  him  by 
nature,  he  has  been  regarded  as  the  greatest  exponent  of  American 
Surgery.  His  elevation  of  mind  and  catholicity  of  view  were  conta- 
gious, and  imparted  themselves  directly  to  his  immediate  acquaint- 
ance, and  indirectly  to  those  who  only  knew  him  through  his  writ- 
ings. They  inspired  students  and  associates  alike,  and  because  of 
his  long  career  as  a  teacher,  writer  and  surgeon,  in  both  the  West 
and  the  East,  his  influence  on  American  physicians  and  surgeons 
was  probably  more  powerful  than  that  of  any  member  of  the  pro- 
fession since  the  time  of  Rush.  In  consequence  of  his  position  in 
American  medicine,  the  old  world  universities  showered  upon  him 
honors  such  as  have  been  conferred  upon  but  one  other  American, 
while  the  profession  at  home  has  given  him  a  recognition  so  far 
accorded  to  no  other  physician — a  national  statue  (h).   Such  were 

(g)    Gross  and  Pancoast  were  of  the  same  age. 

(h)  The  statue  to  Dr.  ,T.  Marion  Sims  in  New  York,  erected  in  1S94,  is 
more  local  than  national.  It  is  worth  remarking,  too,  that  Dr.  Sims  and  Dr. 
Gross  Avere  both  Jefferson  graduates. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  251 

the  characteristics  of  Dp.  Gross  when,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years,  he 
ca  ii te  «'ii i  of  the  West,  where,  ;i>  be  proudly  said:  ••!  left  an  empire 
of  Surgery  behind  me"  and  he  was  its  emperor  and  came  to  the 
largest  medical  school  in  existence  up  t<>  L856.  "Conscious  of  his 
powers  ;is  ;i  teacher,"  writes  I  >r.  i  >a  <  losta,  "in  i  he  prime  of  life  and 
of  vigor,  ambitions  to  connect  his  aame  forever  with  that  of  the 
college  where  lie  liad  been  educated,  and  whicb  n  band  of  men  had 
made  so  flourishing;"  lie  "accepted  the  task  without  misgivings, 
and  the  result  was  unmixed  success  for  himself  and  great  benefit  t.. 
the  Institution."  It  is  said  by  an  eminent  editor:  "Dr.  Gi 
majestic  form  and  dignified  presence,  his  broad  brow  and  intelli- 
gent eye,  his  deep,  mellow  \«>i.-.-  and  benignant  smile,  his  genial 
manner  and  cordial  greeting  remain  indelibly  Impressed  upon  the 
memory  oi  all  who  knew  him." 

In  returning  i<»  Jefferson  and  the  Bast,  I  >r.  ( Iross  i  :ame  back  t<» 
his  own,  in  more  senses  than  one.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  of  German- American  lineage  at  the  home  of  his  father,  Philip 
Gross,  near  Easton,  in  the  year  L805.  It  is  said  that  his  ambition 
to  become  a  physician  was  evident  before  tie*  age  of  six  years,  and 
when,  with  ordinary  school  advantages,  his  seventeenth  year 
approached,  he  entered  a  physician's  office.  Feeling  the  deficiencies 
of  his  preliminary  training,  he  determined  To  supplement  them, 
and  interrupting  his  medical  course,  he  entered  as  a  student  at 
Wilkesbarre  Academy,  and  Lawrenceville  High  School,  for  two 
years,  and  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  went  t<>  Easton,  where  he  entered 
the  office  of  Pr.  Joseph  K.  Swift  One  day  his  eye  fell  upon  the 
following  sentence  in  Dorsey's  Surgery:  "In  .June  last  he  applied 
to  Dr.  Irwin  of  Easton,  the  place  of  his  residence,  who  instantly 
apprised  him  of  The  nature  and  importance  of  his  complaint,  and 
advised  him  to  go  t<>  Philadelphia."  As  he  meditated  upon  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  phrase  here  italicized,  he  formed  the  resolution 
that  he  should  so  master  his  profession  that  ii  should  never  be 
necessary  to  send  his  patients  To  anyone  else;  he  should  be  a  mas 
himself.  Among  other  books  he  studied  were  Wistar's  Anatomy, 
and  Chapman's  Materia  Hedica  and  Therapeutics.  Ili>  preceptor 
desired  him  to  enter  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1826, 


252  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  year  of  his  majority,  he  went  to  Philadelphia  with  letters  to 
Drs.  Dewees  and  Horner;  but  he  had  heard  a  great  deal  of  the 
brilliant  work  of  Dr.  George  McClellan  in  the  "new  school,"  as 
Jefferson  was  then  called,  and,  after  visiting  him,  concluded  to 
become  his  private  pupil  and  to  matriculate  in  that  institution. 
"McClellan,"'  he  writes  in  his  autobiography,  "was  an  enthusiast, 
and  I  was  not  long  in  sharing  his  feelings."  Gross  had  a  splendid 
constitution  and  prodigious  capacity  for  study,  as  well  as  unusual 
ability  in  self -instruction,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that,  at  this  period, 
his  education  was  scarcely  inferior  to  that  afforded  by  the  liberal 
colleges  of  that  day.  He  graduated  at  the  end  of  the  third  session, 
in  the  year  1828,  and  very  soon  opened  an  office  on  Fifth  street, 
opposite  Independence  Square.  He  at.  once  began  the  translation 
of  a  French  work  on  Anatomy,  which  brought  him  some  of  his  first 
earnings.  Other  translations  followed,  and  an  original  work  on 
the  Bones  and  Joints,  in  1830.  After  spending  eighteen  months 
in  the  vain  effort  to  secure  a  practice,  he  returned  to  Easton,  where 
success  awaited  him,  and  where  he  also  entered  upon  special 
studies  in  anatomy  and  in  various  lines  of  original  research.  His 
reputation  increased  so  rapidly  that,  by  1833,  he  was  offered  the 
chair  of  Chemistry  in  Lafayette  College,  but  chose  rather  to  accept 
the  position  of  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  Medical  College 
of  Ohio  at  Cincinnati.  His  work  in  that  institution  was  so  satis- 
factory that  in  1835  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Pathological 
Anatomy  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Cincinnati  College, 
where  he  laid  the  foundations  of  his  great  work  on  Pathological 
Anatomy,  which  for  him  won  the  admiration  and  friendship  of 
Virchow  and  other  eminent  European  authorities.  His  fame  was 
now  so  extended  that  in  1839  he  was  called  to  both  the  Universities 
of  Virginia  and  Louisiana,  but,  declining  these  appointments, 
accepted  the  following  year  a  call  to  the  institution  in  Kentucky, 
made  famous  bj  Daniel  Drake  and  others,  which  soon  became  the 
University  of  Louisville,  and  in  which  he  increased  the  fame, 
already  great,  of  its  chair  of  Surgery.  Here  he  found  full  scope  for 
his  abilities,  and  continued  his  work  of  original  research  in  vari- 
ous lines.     Soon  after  Gross'  accession  to  this  school  the  number 


I  \    I'll  1 1.  \  DELPHIA. 

of  iis  students  was  nearly  doubled.  Nearly  i<-n  years  passed,  and, 
in  L849,  in  consequence  of  litigatioE  for  the  control  <»i  the  school, 
tie  accepted  a  call  to  the  chair  of  Surgery  in  the  University  of  New 
JTork,  where  he  was  associated  with  Draper,  Patterson,  Bedford, 
Payne  and  Bartletl  for  one  session.  The  attack  on  the  Louisville 
trustees  having  failed  before  the  session  closed,  Dr.  Gross  was 
importuned  i<»  return,  his  successor,  Dr.  Paul  F.  Eve,  joining  in 
the  request,  agreeing  to  resign  if  li<-  would  resume  liis  former  posi- 
tion.  liis  New  York  residence  was  really  Inn  an  episode  in  his 
long  Ohio  Valley  career  of  over  twenty  yea  rs,  for  he  resumed  his  old 
place,  and  in  L854  produced  another  original  work  on  Foreign 
Bodies  in  the  Air  Passages,  of  which  Sir  Morrell  Mackenzie  said: 
"It  is  doubtful  whether  it  will  ever  be  improved  upon."  His  writ- 
ings and  addresses  had  now  made  him  an  acknowledged  leader  in 
the  medical  world,  and  his  extensive  practice  kept    pace  with  his 

reputation. 

Jn  1855,  I  >r.  Rene  La  Iloehe  urged  him  to  become  a  candidate 
for  Gibson's  chair  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  hut  he 
declined,  ami,  he  writes  in  his  autobiography,  "when  it  became 
known  that  I  was  inexorable,  1  wrote,  at.  the  request  of  l>r.  D. 
Mayes  Agnew,  a  warm  testimonial  in  favor  of  Dr.  Henry  H.  Smith. 
who  was  finally  elected."  But  Dr.  Dunglison  had  also  written  to 
him,  pressing  the  claims  of  his  alma  mater  and  urging  him  to 
accept  the  chair  vacated  by  Dr.  Mutter.  He  consented,  and  it  was 
undoubtedly  a  sense  of  duty  that  induced  him,  at  t  he  age  of  fifty,  to 
break  up  a  home  replete  with  tender  associations,  and  begin  a  new 
career.  Dr.  Gross  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  September,  L856,  and 
in  a  tew  days  began  his  duties  by  delivering  the  introductory  lec- 
ture to  the  great  classes  of  Jefferson.  "After  his  graduation," 
writes  Dr.  I.  M.  Hays,  "the  great  ambition  of  Dr.  Gross  was  to 
become  a  teacher,  liis  h'rst.  effort  in  this  direction  was  as  Dem- 
onstrator of  Anatomy  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  in  which.  ;i> 

previously  stated,  he  delivered  t luce  led  ures  n  week  for  i  wo  years. 
in  the  ( Jincinnati  <  Jollege  he  lectured  for  four  yens  on  Pathological 
Anatomy,  after  which  he  taught  surgery  for  forty-two  years.  Dur- 
ing all  this  time  he  invariably  spoke  extemporaneously,  with  the 


254  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

aid  of  a  few  brief  headings;  but  lie  never  appeared  before  his  class 
without  previous  study  and  meditation  and  a  thorough  comprehen- 
sion of  his  subject.  Order  and  system  were  among  his  more  impor- 
tant attributes  as  a  teacher.  Those  who  have  heard  him  will 
never  forget  his  enthusiasm,  the  marked  interest  he  felt  in  what 
he  was  saying  and  doing,  and  the  evidence  of  the  feeling  that  he 
had  a  solemn  duty  to  perform,  and  that  upon  what  he  uttered  might 
depend  the  happiness  or  misery  of  thousands  of  human  beings. 
The  opening  portion  of  his  course  on  surgery  was  devoted  to  the^ 
discussion  of  the  principles,  the  topics  discussed  having  been 
inflammation  and  its  consequences,  syphilis,  struma,  tumors  and 
wounds.  These  topics  being  disposed  of,  he  took  up  the  diseases 
and  injuries  of  particular  regions,  organs  and  tissues,  confining 
himself  as  much  as  possible  to  matters  of  fact,  and  not  indulging  in 
hypotheses,  conjecture  or  speculation.  His  knowledge  of  patho- 
logical anatomy  was  of  immense  benefit  to  him  in  these  exercises, 
and  he  freely  availed  himself  of  it  as  a  means  of  illustrating  every 
subject  that  he  had  occasion  to  discuss.  Indeed,  he  always  asserted 
that  whatever  reputation  he  possessed  as  a  teacher  and  writer  was 
in  great  degree  due  to  his  familiarity  with  morbid  anatomy.  What 
added  greatly  to  his  charm  as  a  lecturer  were  his  admirable  dic- 
tion, his  commanding  presence,  and  a  resonant  and  well-modulated 
voice."  Dr.  Gross  added  to  his  teaching  the  founding  and  editing 
of  a  new  journal,  the  Worth  American  Hedico-Chirurgical  Review,  a 
journal  which,  in  association  with  Dr.  T.  S.  Richardson,  he  had 
already  conducted  in  Louisville.  He  limited  his  local  practice  to 
office  and  consultation' work,  in  order  that  he  might  have  time  to 
write  his  greatest  work,  the  System  of  Surgery.  "I  had  long  con- 
templated such  a  work,''  he  writes,  "and  I  knew  that  unless  I 
changed  my  residence  I  should  never  be  able  to  fulfill  an  object 
which  lay  so  near  my  heart,  and  was  so  intimately  interwoven  with 
my  ambition  and  the  great  purposes  of  my  professional  life.  Accord- 
ingly, upon  my  arrival  in  Philadelphia,  I  confined  myself  strictly  to 
office  and  consultation  business,  to  patients  from  a  distance  and  to 

surgical  operations I  had  commenced  the  composition  of 

my  Surgery  several  years  before  I  left  Kentucky,  and  I  now  set  vig- 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

orously  to  work  i<>  complete  it J  had  determined  to  do 

my  best  t<>  make  it,  if  possible,  the  most  elaborate,  if  not  the  raosl 
complete,  treatise  in  the  English  language,  and  I  therefore  gave 

myself  ample  time  for  tin*  labor I  have  often  been  told 

that.  I  have  simplified  Surgery.  A  higher  compliment  could  aol 
be  paid  me."  Elsewhere  he  says  of  it:  "During  all  the  period 
(forty-two  years)  I  was  unceasingly  devoted  to  the  duties  of  an  ardu- 
ous practice,  both  private  and  public;  to  t  In*  study  of  the  greal  mus- 
ters of  the  art  and  science  of  medicine  and  surgery,  and  to  the 
composition  of  various  monographs  winch  had  a  direct  bearing 
upon  a  number  of  the  subjects  discussed  in  these  columns.  The 
work  should,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  embodying  the  results  of  a 
large  personal,  as  well  as  of  a  ripe,  experience,  of  extensive  lead- 
ing and  of  much  reflection;  in  a  word,  as  exhibiting  surgery  as  I 
myself  understand  it,  and  as  I,  for  so  many  years,  taughi  it."  It 
appeared  in  1859,  and  its  great  success  is  well  known.  The  esti- 
mate of  it  which  most  appealed  to  him  was  that  of  a  Dublin  editor: 
"His  work  is  cosmopolitan,  the  surgery  of  the  world  being  fully 
represented  in  it.  The  work,  in  fact,  is  so  historically  unprejudiced 
and  so  eminently  practical  that  it  is  almost  a  false  compliment  to 
say  we  believe  it.  to  be  destined  to  occupy  a  foremost  place  as  a  wort 
of  reference,  while  a  system  of  surgery,  like  the  present  system 
of  surgery,  is  the  practice  of  surgeons." 

His  life  was  jirolific  in  other  ways.  In  1857,  he  and  Dr.  J.  M". 
Da  Costa,  who  joined  him  in  many  of  his  favorite  projects,  founded 
a  new  Pathological  Society,  which  has  already  been  mentioned  in 
connection  with  an  earlier  one  founded  by  Gerhard.  When  the 
war  opened  he  endeavored  to  stem  the  tide  of  the  students'  seces- 
sion, and  headed  one  of  the  first  public  meetings,  composed  <>f  Ken- 
tuckians  then  in  the  city.  In  the  course  of  nine  days  he  prepared 
a  Manual  of  Military  Surgery,  which  was  widely  used  in  both 
armies.  Tn  L862,  he  was  offered  t  he  direct  ion  of  t  he  ( leorge  SI  re<  I 
Military  Hospital,  but  secured  the  position  for  Dr.  L.  D.  Harlow, 
and  himself  took  charge  of  the  surgical  ward.  His  membership  in 
medical  societies  was  too  numerous  to  be  here  detailed,  embracing 
many  of  the  leading  medical   organizations  of  the  world,  and   of 


256  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

most  of  those  of  his  own  state  he  served  as  president.  He  founded 
the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Surgery  in  1879,  and  the  American 
Surgical  Association  in  1880,  and  was  honored  as  president  of  the 
International  Medical  Congress  of  1876.  Jefferson  College,  at  Can- 
nonsburg,  honored  him  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  in  1861; 
Oxford  gave  him  that  of  Doctor  of  Civil  Law,  in  1872;  Cambridge 
that  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  eight  years  later;  and  the  Universities  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Edinburgh  conferred  upon  him  similar  titles 
before  his  death  in  1881.  Dr.  Gross  was  seventy -nine  years  old — 
almost  an  octogenarian — when  the  end  came.  He  was  entitled,  if 
ever  surgeon  was,  to  be  called  "great,"  and  this  fact  was  univer- 
sally recognized  during  his  life.  He  realized  his  youthful  ideals, 
for  he  became  a  master  surgeon,  a  great  writer,  and,  above  all 
things,  an  eloquent  teacher.  Common  consent  has  assigned  him  a 
lofty  place  in  surgical  annals,  and  it  was  scarcely  a  dozen  years 
after  his  death,  when,  headed  by  the  alumni  of  Jefferson,  the  medi- 
cal profession  placed  his  statue  in  the  national  capitol.  Gross  was 
the  second  physician  for  whom  that  honor  was  proposed,  the  first 
to  actually  receive  it.  This  event  occurred  but  a  few  months  over 
forty  years  after  that  day  in  1856,  when  he  came  to  fill  the  first 
vacant  chair  of  the  old  faculty  of  '41. 

The  next  year,  1858,  an  older  physician,  born  in  the  latter  part 
•of  the  preceding  century  and  trained  in  the  school  of  Rush,  suc- 
ceeded Dr.  Huston  in  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica.  Dr.  Thomas 
Mitchell  was  of  an  old  Philadelphia  family,  and  was  educated  in 
the  old  Carson  Academy,  the  Friends'  Academy  and  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  days  when  Rush  was  the  dominant  figure. 
Intending  to  study  medicine,  his  preceptor,  Dr.  Parrish,  advised 
him  to  spend  six  months  in  the  drug  store  and  chemical  laboratory 
of  Dr.  Adam  Seybert.  He  followed  this  advice,  and,  in  1809,  began 
his  medical  course,  graduating  in  1812,  the  year  before  Rush  died. 
Almost  immediately  he  was  chosen  instructor  in  Physiology  in  St. 
John's  College  in  Race  street,  where  he  won  some  reputation  as  a 
writer.  A  year  later  he  was  made  lazaretto  physician,  and,  in  181 9, 
jjublished  a  volume  on  medical  chemistry.  Meanwhile,  he  began 
practice  in  the  city  and  suburbs;  was  honored  by  Princeton  with 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

the  Master's  degree,  and,  in  L831,  joined  Dm.  Drake  and  Bberle  in 
their  college  projects  In  Cincinnati,  where  lie  occupied  the  chair 
of  Chemistry.  ll«'  there  published  oilier  works  on  chemistry  and 
was  associated  with  Eberle  in  conducting  :i  medical  journal.  In 
the  various  changes  thai  look  place,  he  was  finally,  in  L837,  elected 
to  the  facility  of  Transylvania  University,  where,  two  years  later; 
he  tilled  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica;  and,  although  he  filled  other 
chairs,  he  was  identified  with  this  one  for  the  Longesl  period  ten 
years.  Soon  after  i he  Philadelphia  ( lollege  of  Medicine  was  organ- 
ized, he  was  called  to  its  chair  of  Theory  and  Practice,  and  in  ls.~>7. 
when  well  advanced  in  years,  he  accepted  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica.  in  Jefferson  Medical  College,  and  held  it  until  his  death  in 
1865,  eight  years  later. 

In  1S.*>N,  Dr.  -I.  K.  .Mitchell  was  succeeded  by  another  Southern 
man,  sixty  years  of  age,  who  had  been  trained  under  Wistar, 
Physick,  Dorsey  and  Chapman,  and  had  been,  with  Ramsay,  one 
<»f  the  founders  of  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina.  Dr. 
Samuel  II.  Dickson  was  horn  in  1798,  in  Charleston,  and  was  gradu- 
ated from  Vale  ( Jollege  in  1814,at  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  began 
the  study  of  medicine  under  a  preceptor  in  his  native  city,  and  had 
much  experience  with  yellow  fever,  even  as  a  student.  Iu  1810,  he 
was  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department,  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  again  encountered  the  fever  in  Charleston.  It 
was  a  few  years  later,  in  1824,  that  he  joined  Drs.  Ramsay  and  Frost 
in  founding  the  Medical  College  of  South  Carolina,  he,  himself,  tak- 
ing the  chair  of  Institutes  and  Practice.  After  t.wenty-t  wo  years  in 
this  institution,  he  was  persuaded  to  accept  a  call  to  the  University 
of  New  York,  in  1N47,  to  succeed  Dr.  Revere;  but,  in  1850,  the 
Charlestonians  brought  influence  enough  to  hear  upon  him  to  se- 
cure his  return,  the  \ew  York  institution  showing  their  regard  for 
his  services  by  giving  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in  the  fol- 
lowing year.  Bight  years  later,  in  the  year  preceding  the  great  ex- 
odus of  Southern  students,  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Practice  in 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  and  spent  the  fourteen  closing  years  of 
his  life  in  that  position,  dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  in  1872. 
Dv.  Dickson,  during  his  long  service  in  the  school  he  had  founded, 


258  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

was  one  of  the  most  influential  men  of  South  Carolina,  not  only  in 
medical,  but  in  literary  and  philanthropic  circles,  and  his  medical 
works  were  standards  in  their  day,  his  most  notable  one  being, 
probably,  his  "Elements  of  Pathology  and  Practice."  It  is  notice- 
able that  both  he  and  Dr.  T.  D.  Mitchell  were  well-advanced  in 
years  when  they  came  to  take  the  places  of  members  of  the  faculty 
of  "41.  Dr.  Dickson's  chair  during  this  period  of  severe  trial  to 
Jefferson  must  be  associated  with  his  successor,  Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costar 
who,  for  several  years,  had  been  an  influential  instructor  in  the 
institution,  and  who,  during  the  four  closing  years  of  this  period 
(1872-1876),  gave  abundant  evidence  of  the  exceptional  ability  that 
has  always  marked  his  teachings.  From  the  above  it  will  be  seen 
that  when  Dr.  Dickson  joined  the  faculty,  in  the  last  of  the  ante- 
bellum years,  it  was  characterized  by  men  of  remarkable  ability, 
while  the  number  of  students,  on  account  of  the  secession  of  those 
from  the  South,  was  unusually  small. 

The  next  change  came  in  1862,  when  Charles  D.  Meigs  retired 
from  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  and  gave  place  to  Dr.  Ellerslie  Wal- 
lace. Dr.  Wallace  was  a  comparatively  young  man,  and  had  been  a 
successful  instructor  in  the  institution  for  some  time  previously. 
His  work  as  a  class  teacher  had  been  so  brilliant  as  to  attract 
especial  interest  and  attention.  He  was  but  forty-three  years  old 
when  he  succeeded  to  the  Obstetrical  chair,  as  he  was  born  in  Phila- 
delphia in  1813.  He  was  of  Scotch  lineage,  and  was  educated  at 
Bristol  for  civil  engineering,  but  was  attracted  to  medicine  by  his 
brother,  Dr.  Joshua  Wallace,  who  was  then  Demonstrator  of  Anat- 
omy at  Jefferson  Medical  College.  He  entered  the  college  in  the 
first  classes  of  the  faculty  of  '41,  and  received  his  degree  in  1843. 
Dr.  Wallace  then  began  practice  in  this  city,  and  soon  became 
resident  physician  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  Three  years  later 
he  resigned  this  position  in  order  to  become  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  at  Jefferson,  and,  for  sixteen  years,  he  performed  the 
duties  of  this  office  with  satisfaction  to  all  concerned.  His  call 
to  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  was  a  deserved  promotion,  and  his 
career  of  over  twenty  years,  as  its  occupant,  made  him  widely 
recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  teachers  of  Obstetrics  in  the  country. 


IN  PHILADELPH1  \. 

He  resigned  in  iss.'i,  and  di<'<i  early  in  L885,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
five  years. 

Two  years  after  Wallace's  accession  (i.  e.,  in  L864)  Dr.  B.  How- 
ard Band,  secretary  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  was 
elected  Professor  of  <  Jhemistry,  at  tin-  age  of  I  hirty-seven  years.  The 
year  before  he  had  published  his  "Elements  of  Medical  Chemisl  ry," 
the  outgrowth  of  several  years  as  a  teacher  of  thai  subject.  Dr. 
Rand  was  :i  Philadelphian,  born  in  L827.  He  began  the  study  of 
medicine  under  l>r.  Huston,  and  received  his  degree  from  Jefferson 
in  1848,  after  having  been  clinical  assistant  t<>  Drs.  Mutter  and 
Pancoast  for  two  years.  In  1850,  he  began  his  connection  with  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and,  about  the  same  time,  he  W3LB 
chosen  Lecturer  on  Chemistry  to  the  Franklin  Institute.  He  also 
had  a  similar  chair  in  the  Philadelphia  <  'ollege  of  Medicine  until  its 
existence  ceased  at  the  opening  of  the  Avar.  He  was  essentially  a 
teacher  of  chemistry,  and,  as  such,  was  chosen  to  the  Jefferson 
chair  in  1864.  Dr.  Rand  was  a  member  of  various  societies,  and 
after  thirteen  years  in  his  new  position  was  compelled  to  resign  on 
account  of  ill  health  in  1877,  six  years  before  his  decease. 

Dr.  Mitchell  died  the  year  after  Rand  took  the  chair  of  Chemis- 
try, and  his  successor,  like  himself,  was  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  one 
of  the  recently  extinct  colleges.  Dr.  John  B.  Biddle  was  fifty  years 
of  age  in  1S65,  when  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Materia  Medic  a. 
He  was  a  member  of  an  old  and  distinguished  Philadelphia  family. 
and  was  born  in  1815.  He  received  a  thorough  education  in  well- 
known  local  academies  and  in  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  where 
he  received  his  classical  degree.  After  a  short  time  spent  in  the 
study  of  law,  he  entered  Dr.  Chapman's  office,  and  also  began  his 
course  in  the  University  Medical  School,  from  which  he  received 
his  degree  soon  after  his  twenty-first  birthday.  The  next  year,  or 
more,  he  spent  in  Europe,  particularly  in  France,  in  further  pursuit 
Of  his  studies,  and  on  his  return  established  himself  in  practice. 
In  1838,  he  and  Dr.  Meredith  Clymer  founded  77"  Medical  Examiner, 
with  which  he  and  ( Gerhard  and  Francis  ( l-urney  Smith  were  so  long 
and  so  successfully  connected.  He  had  a  xevx  pleasing  style  that 
was  characteristic  of  both  his  oral  and  written  discourse.     In  18  !,;. 


260  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

he  joined  Drs.  James  B.  Rogers,  Van  Wick,  Tucker,  Goddard,  Cly- 
mer  and  Leidy,  in  the  organization  of  Franklin  Medical  College, 
Biddle  taking  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica,  and  continuing  to 
occupy  it  until  the  college  closed.  In  1852,  he  published  his  text- 
book on  Materia  Medica,  which  was  very  successful,  and  the  follow- 
ing year  was  called  to  teach  that  branch  in  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  Pennsylvania  College,  which  also  closed  with  the  opening 
years  of  the  war.  His  success  as  a  teacher  made  him  the  natural 
successor  of  Dr.  T.  D.  Mitchell,  in  1865,  in  Jefferson,  where  he 
began  his  best  period  of  work.  He  has  been  described  in  the  lec- 
ture-room as  follows :  "His  erect  person  and  manly,  dignified  pres- 
ence, with  an  agreeable  manner,  combined  to  make  him  a  graceful 
speaker,  who  won  the  attention  of  all  who  listened  to  him.  He 
was  always  clear  and  impressive,  and  not  unfrequently,  when 
warmed  by  his  subject,  eloquent.  He  has  been  termed,  in  a  recent 
notice  of  him,  'a  medical  orator.' "  He  also  held  the  office  of  dean 
for  a  time,  and  with  eminent  success,  for  he  was  endowed  with 
exceptional  administrative  ability.  Dr.  Biddle  was  a  member  of 
the  Jefferson  faculty  for  thirteen  years,  and  at  the  close  of  his 
career  the  number  of  students  had  almost  reached  the  high  figure 
of  the  ante-bellum  days.  In  1878,  his  health  began  to  fail,  and  he 
died  the  following  winter,  in  January,  at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years. 
He  had  been  connected  with  many  public  institutions,  in  both  pro- 
fessional and  other  capacities,  and  was  widely  mourned.  The  Jef- 
ferson class  numbered  572  at  that  time,  and  by  way  of  testifying 
their  regard  for  his  memory,  sent  to  his  bier  a  chair  of  flowers, 
significant  by  its  vacancy.  But  two  other  changes  were  made  in 
the  faculty  during  this  period:  the  succession  of  the  younger  Pan- 
coast  to  his  father's  chair,  and  the  choice  of  Dr.  James  Aitkin  Meigs 
for  the  chair  of  the  Institutes  of  Medicine  and  Medical  Jurispru- 
dence in  18C8.  The  latter  event  occurred  three  years  after  Dr.  Bid- 
die's  election.  As  Dr.  W.  H.  Pancoast  is  more  fully  identified  with 
a  later  institution,  notice  of  him  will  be  more  appropriate  in  con- 
nection with  it,  and  this  account  of  Jefferson's  civil  war  faculty  may 
close  with  some  consideration  of  Dr.  Meigs,  whose  decease  occurred 
the  same  vear  as  that  of  Dr.  Biddle.     Dr.  Meigs  was  one  of  the 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  261 

younger  men,  indeed  the  youngest,  in  i  he  faculty,  excepting  Hand. 
Ilr  was  also  one  of  t  ii<is«*  who  were  promoted  t«»  Jefferson  from  other 
local  colleges,  Jefferson  or  tin-  University  being  the  goal  of  every 
young  and  ambitious  medical  instructor.  As  a  rule  tin-  Medical 
Department  of  Pennsylvania  College  was  the  stepping-stone  to  the 
portals  of  the  greater  institutions.  Dr.  Meigs  was  also  a  native 
Philadelphian,  born  in  L829,  of  a  family  of  Scotch,  English  and 
German  ancestry.  He  was  one  of  the  mosl  learned  men  of  tin* 
faculty,  indeed,  of  the  profession,  and,  although  he  died  ;ii  the 
comparatively  early  age  of  fifty,  he  lefl  behind  him  a  permanent 
fame,  both  as  a  physiologist  ;nnl  an  ethnologist.  A1  tin-  age  of 
nineteen  he  graduated  from  the  Central  High  School,  and  soon 
began  the  study  of  medicine  mid  or  Dr.  Francis  Gurney  Smith.  Fie 
wax  graduated  from  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  isr>i,  the 
subject  of  his  thesis  being  "The  I  [ygiene  and  Therapeutics  of  Tem- 
perament." lie  at  once  began  practice,  and  very  soon  became  a  lec- 
turer in  the  Franklin  Institute,  and  a  member  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences.  In  the  latter  institution  he  long  served  effect- 
ively as  librarian.  His  chief  subjects  of  study  were  Physiology  and 
Ethnology,  and  soon  he  became  widely  known  as  a  lecturer  upon 
these  subjects.  In  L85T,  he  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  the  Inst  itutes 
of  Medicine  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  .Medicine,  and  continued 
to  occupy  it  until  1859,  when  the  school  was  merged  into  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Pennsylvania  College.  In  the  same  year  he 
succeeded  Dr.  Smith,  his  former  preceptor,  in  the  same  chair  of 
Physiology  in  the  last-named  institution.  This  school  closed  with 
the  opening  of  the  war,  so  that  Dr.  Meigs  was  solely  occupied  with 
his  hospital  and  private  practice,  until  1866,  when  he  joined  the 
summer  faculty  of  his  alma  mater,  and  two  years  later  succeeded 
to  t  he  (hair  of  Professor  Dunglison,  who  was  the  lasl  but  one  of  the 
old  faculty.  For  thirteen  years  Dr.  Meigs'  connection  with  Jeffer- 
son was  attended  with  the  most  happy  results.  "As  a  lecturer," 
writes  Dr.  II.  <\  Chapman,  "Dr.  Meigs  was  most  eloquent,  always 
interesting  and  holding  the  interest  of  his  class.  Speaking  with- 
out notes,  his  excellent  memory  never  failing  him.  and  gifted  with 
great  command  of  language,  he  invariably  succeeded  in  inspiring 


202  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

his  students  with  his  own  enthusiasm."  Again  he  says:  "Dr.  Meigs' 
knowledge  of  physiology,  as  shown  in  his  lectures,  was  encyclo- 
paedical, as  far  as  that  expression  may  be  applicable  to  any  one  per- 
son."' Experimental  demonstrations  were  prominent  features  of 
his  course  of  lectures,  although  he  believed  that  "the  progressive 
or  historical  method  is  undoubtedly  the  best  calculated  to  interest 
the  student  and  give  him  a  comprehensive  and  profound  view  of 
physiological  science."  Dr.  Meigs  was  widely  known,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  among  men  of  science,  and  more  than  a  dozen  profes- 
sional and  scientific  societies  in  all  parts  of  the  world  enrolled  him 
as  a  member.  His  loss  and  that  of  Dr.  Biddle,  in  1879  (i),  together 
with  other  changes,  were  prominent  events  in  the  closing  of  the 
period,  which  began  twenty  years  before  in  the  secession  of  South- 
ern students  from  Jefferson  and  the  University. 

While  the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  the  medical  profession 
of  this  period  are  those  of  the  faculties  in  Ninth  and  Tenth  streets, 
there  are  many  other  names  that  will  at  once  occur  to  the  student 
of  recent  medical  history  as  belonging  to  men  as  able  and  influ- 
ential as  those  connected  with  the  schools.  At  the  same  time,  while 
this  is  true,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  dominant  influences  of  the 
profession  of  the  period  had  their  chief  expression  in  the  combined 
strength  of  the  two  faculties;  and  it  is  the  course  of  such  influences 
that  an  attempt  is  here  made  to  follow.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
consider  the  careers  of  some  of  those  above  alluded  to,  did  space 
permit,  but  as  able  men  become  more  numerous,  groups  of  men, 
rather  than  individuals,  as  a  rule,  give  topography  to  the  field  of 
medical  history.  Among  the  many  able  physicians  and  surgeons 
not  connected  with  the  two  great  schools  were  Dr.  Washington  L. 
Atlee,  1808-78,  a  graduate  of  Jefferson,  and  eminent  as  a  gynecolo- 
gist and  obstetrician;  in  fact,  a  man  far  ahead  of  his  time;  Dr.  T.  S. 
Kirkbride,  whose  name  is  almost  synonymous  with  that  of  the  great 
Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  the  Insane;  Dr.  D.  F.  Condie,  Dr.  G.  W. 
Norris,  Dr.  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  Dr.  J.  F.  Meigs,  Dr.  Paul  B. 

(i)  The  summer  session,  which  became  fully  established  in  1870  in  Jefferson, 
brought  some  new  names  to  the  school,-  among  them  being  Drs.  W.  H.  Pandoast, 
John  H.  Brinton,  R.  J.  Levis,  F.  P.  Maury,  W.  W.  Keen,  W.  S.  Gross,  J.  Soiis 
Cohen,  I.  Bay,  F.  H.  Getchell.  J.  E.  Laughlin,  and  E.  M.  Townsend. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  263 

Ooddard,  Dp.  J.  Rhea  Barton,  l>r.  Caspar  Morris,  Dr.  John  Neill, 
Dr.  J.  J.  Reese,  Dr.  W.  V.  Keating,  Dr.  .lames  Darraeh,  Dr.  J.  L.  Lud- 
low, Dr.  James  E.  Garretson,  and  Dr.  Ellwood  Wilson.  There  are 
many  others  still  Living,  the  foundations  of  whose  fame  were  Laid 
during  this  period.  Of  these,  the  mosl  eminent  are  Dr.  J.  M. 
Da  Costa  ami  Dr.  8.  Weir  Mitchell.  Many  more  would  !»••  men- 
tioned if  we  were  dealing  with  current  events,  but,  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  of  this  chapter,  they  must  be  omitted. 

With  these  facts  in  mind  as  to  the  general  personal  influences 
centering  about.  Ninth  and  Tenth  streets,  when  the  John  Brown 
raid  caused  the  secession  of  students  in  December,  1859,  one  is  pre- 
pared to  understand  the  rapid  movement  of  events  in  medical 
circles  during  the  great  conflict  that  followed.  Dr.  S.  D.  Gross,  as 
previously  stated,  presided  at  a  meeting  of  Kentuckians  on  Janu- 
ary 29,  1861,  the  earliest  public  event  of  this  period  in  which  a 
physician  was  prominent;  and  the  earliest,  organization  of  Ladies 
as  nurses  for  the  war  hospitals  was  the  Philadelphia  Nurses*  <  !orps, 
formed  April  22d  of  the  same  year.  The  first  military  hospital  was 
the  Christian  Street  Hospital,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  sin-.. is, 
which  opened  with  one  patient  on  May  6,  in  Moyamensing  Hall. 
Dr.  John  Neill  was  medical  director,  with  Drs.  Francis  Gurney 
Smith,  S.  S.  Hollingsworth,  John  II.  B.'McClellau  and  Ebenezer 
Wallace  as  aides,  and  Drs.  John  H.  Brinton,  John  II.  Packard, 
•George  C.  Harlan  ami  F.  W.  Lewis  as  assistant  surgeons,  and  Dr. 
•C.  II.  Boardman  as  resident  physician.  This  was  the  only  hospital 
found  necessary  for  several  months — indeed,  until  the  general 
movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  in  1862.  In  June  some 
of  the  earliest  regiments  were  fully  organized,  among  them  being 
the  Pennsylvania  Regiment  of  Independent  Riflemen,  of  which 
Dr.  II.  Ernest  Goodman  was  surgeon  and  Dr.  David  <l.  Bowman 
assistant;  Col.  Small's  regiment,  with  Dr.  John  YV.  Mintzer  as 
assistant  surgeon;  the  Philadelphia  Light  Artillery  Regiment,  with 
Dr.  H.  Heller  as  surgeon  and  Dr.  M.  Heller  as  assistant,  and  the 
Keystone  Regiment,  with  Dr.  John  II.  Packard  as  surgeon.  It  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  it  was  the  son  of  the  founder  of  Jefferson, 
■Gen.  George  Brinton  McClellan,  who  was  appointed  commander 


264  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  volunteer  service  was  the  first 
to  draw  largely  from  the  ranks  of  the  profession,  and  the  following: 
list  gives  the  names  of  the  Philadelphia  surgeons  who  served  in  it, 
in  so  far  as  such  a  list  is  attainable:  In  the  cavalry  were  Dr.  W.  EL 
Taggart  in  the  2d  Eegiment  (59th  Volunteers);  Dr.  Daniel  D.  Swift 
in  the  2d  Provisional  Cavalry;  Dr.  T.  H.  Sherwood  in  the  3d  Eegi- 
ment; Dr.  X.  E.  Lynch  in  the  3d  Provisional  Cavalry;  Drs.  Thomas 
J.  and  Henry  C.  Yarrow  in  the  5th  Eegiment  (65th  Volunteers) ;  Dr. 
William  Moss  and  Dr.  Swift  (j)  in  the  6th  Eegiment;  Drs.  S.  B.  W. 
Mitchell  and  J.  E.  Wells  in  the  8th  Eegiment;  Drs.  George  C.  Harlan 
and  A.  E.  Xebinger  iu  the  11th;  Drs.  J.  C.  Schoales,  J.  C.  Allen  and 
E.  B.  Cruice  in  the  12th;  Dr.  William  Ellershaw  in  the  16th;  Di\ 
James  B.  Moore  in  the  17th;  Dr.  A.  G.  Eeed  in  the  19th;  and  Drs. 
W.  C.  Phelps  and  Dr.  Lynch  in  the  22d  Cavalry.  In  the  artillery 
were:  Drs.  John  Graham  and  E.  H.  Wevill  in  the  2d  Heavy  Artil- 
lery, and  Dr.  Edward  Shippen  in  the  1st  Light  Artillery.  In  the 
infantry  were  far  the  larger  number:  Drs.  Thomas  B.  Eeed  and 
John  W.  Lodge  in  the  2d  Eeserves;  Drs.  James  Collins  and  George 
L.  Pancoast  in  the  3d  Eeserves;  Drs.  Benjamin  Eohrer  and  Ben- 
jamin Barr  in  the  10th  Eeserves;  Dr.  William  Lyon  in 
the  11th  Eeserves;  Dr.  Phelps  in  the  11th  Infantry;  Drs. 
S.  W.  Gross  and  John  McGratk  in  the  23d  Infantry;  Drs.  William 
Craig,  Mintzer  and  H.  S.  Gross  in  the  26th  Infantry;  Drs.  Heller, 
Sherwood  and  W.  H.  H.  Ginkinger  in  the  27th;  Drs.  Goodman 
and  W.  M.  Borland  in  the  28th;  Drs.  Lewis  H.  Adler  in  the  47th; 
Dr.  W.  E.  D.  Blackwood  in  the  48th;  Dr.  W.  H.  Gobrecht  in  the 
49th;  Dr.  Eufus  Sargent  in  the  52d;  Drs.  David  Merritt  and  J.  S. 
Eamsey  in  the  55th;  Dr.  Joseph  T.  Shoemaker  in  the  56th;  Dr. 
Thomas  A.  Downs  in  the  57th;  Dr.  Joseph  F.  Wilson  in  the  62d; 
Drs.  James  McFadden,  Gerald  D.  O.  Farrell  and  Z.  Eing  Jones  in 
the  63d;  Dr.  W.  C.  Todd  in  the  06th;  Dr.  James  W.  Petinos  in  the 
67th;  Dr.  James  Shaw  in  the  58th;  Drs.  Henry  A.  Wadsworth  and 
Fred  F.  Burmeister  in  the  69th;  Drs.  Martin  Eizer  and  Richard 
Burr  in  the  72d;  Drs.  William  Gnnkle,  George  Eex,  Burmeister 

(j)    When  initials  are  not  given.,  the  name  is  a  repetition,   as  reorganization 
transferred  many' surgeons  to  other  regiments   than  the  one  they  first  joined. 


1\    PHILADELPHIA. 

and  Isaac  A.  D.  Blake  in  the  73d;  I  Ms.  F.  B.  Morris  and  .M<  <  Irath  in 
the  781 1 1 ;  Dr.  John  C.  Korris  in  the  81st;  1  >rs.  -I.  R.  Richardson,  I ).  I  >. 
Clarke  and  Lonis  M.  Emanuel  in  the  82d;  Dr.  \v.  S.  Stewarl  in  the 
83d;  Ins.  John  II.  Seltzer,  .M.  I'..  McAlear  and  George  II.  Mitchell  in 

i  he  881  li :  I  >r.  A.  <  >wen  Si  ill.-  in  i  he  901  h,  who  died  in  1 862;  I  us.  W. 
(i.  Kiel-  and  <'.  W  .  Houghton  in  the  91st;  Dr.  I  i.  \\ .  Mays  in  the  '.•-' I ; 
J  Ms.  .1.  .M.  Boisnol  and  George  P.  Oliver  in  the  98th;  I  Ms.  B.  I'. 
Butcher,  Silas  Updegrove,  David  P.  Boyer  in  tin-  99th;  Drs.  James 
C.  Card  and  F.  II.  (imss  in  the  100th  Enfantry;  Dr.  William  McPher- 
sun  in  the  101st;  his.  McAlear,  \V.  T.  Robinson  and  W.  Scotl 
Hendrie  in  the  104th;  Dr.  Philip  Leidy  in  the  L06th;  Dr. 
J.  II.  Hassenplug  in  tin-  108th;  Dr.  Oliver  in  the  Lllth; 
Dr.  T.  L.  Bartram  in  tin-  115th;  Dr.  Leidy  in  the  119th; 
Dr.  Charles  E.  Cady  in  the  121st;  Dr.  Stewarl  in  the  L23d;  Dr. 
Houghton  in  tin-  124th;  Dr.  Swift  in  tin-  126th;  \*v.  Ramsey  in  the 
130th;  Drs.  ( '.  D.  Hottenstein  and  Kier  in  the  135th;  \h\  Elisha  E. 
Eaton  in  the  136th;  Dr.  McPherson  in  the  137th;  \u-.  Cady  in  the 
138th;  Dr.  J.  Stiles  Whildin  in  the  L45th;  Drs.  Blackwood  and 
Graham  in  the  149th;  Dr.  Michael  O'Hara  in  the  150th;  Dr.  Upde- 
grove in  the  157th;  Dr.  Nebinger  in  the  158th;  Dr.  Lynch  in  the 
176th;  Drs.  George  11.  B.  Swayze  and  Mays  in  the  178th;  Dr.  W.  S. 
Frick  in  the  179th;  Dr.  Lyons  in  the  191st;  Dr.  Jones  in  tie-  195th; 
Dr.Barrinthe  199th;  Dr.  AlonzoH.  Boyer  in  the  200th;  Dr.  Whildin 
in  the  208th;  Dr.  Houghton  in  tin-  i_M4th,  and  Dr.  Farrell  in  the 
215th.  These,  so  far  as  known,  constitute  the  representatives  in  the 
volunteer  service.  There  were  also  several  in  the  regular  army 
and  navy,  a  branch  to  which  Philadelphia  has  always  contributed 
liberally.  Dr.  John  II.  Brinton  did  eminent  service  as  brigade  stir- 
geon  and  as  surgeon  of  the  United  States  Volunteers.  Yet,  many 
as  she  sent  into  the  field,  Philadelphia's  largesl  contribution  to  the 
medical  service  of  the  war  was  expended  within  her  own  limits. 

The  tirst  military  hospital  in  Philadelphia,  as  we  have  said, 
was  organized  on  Christian  street,  on  May  6,  1861,  almost  at  the 
same  time  as  the  very  first  .me  of  the  civil  war  was  opened  at 
Washington.  It  was  in  December  of  that  year,  when  plans  for  the 
spring  campaign  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  were  making,  thai 


266  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

preparations  were  begun  for  large  hospitals  in  cities  near  the  field 
of  action.  Philadelphia,  for  several  reasons,  became  chosen 
as  the  largest  hospital  center  next  to  Washington  in  the  East. 
Six  buildings,  including  the  Christian  street  hall,  were  secured  as 
the  Military  Hospital  of  Philadelphia,  with  the  old  railway  depot 
at  Broad  and  Cherry  streets  as  headquarters,  and  the  rest  as  wards. 
The  whole  was  under  one  management,  that  of  Dr.  John  Neill.  The 
Christian  street  building  was  a  commissioners'  hall;  that  at  Fifth 
and  Buttonwood  had  been  a  coach  factory;  the  one  at  Sixteenth  and 
Filbert,  made  famous  by  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell's  novel,  "In  War 
Time,"  was  an  old  arsenal,  and  the  fifth,  at  South  and  Twenty- 
fourth  streets,  an  old  silk  factory.  Early  in  January,  1862,  the 
Medical  Department  underwent  various  changes.  Drs.  Francis 
Gurney  Smith,  John  H.  B.  McClellan  and  Alfred  Stille  were  active 
in  its  work  of  reorganization,  one  result  being  the  separation  of  the 
various  hospitals  so  as  to  make  them  independent  of  each  other. 
The  Broad  and  Cherry  Hospital  was  of  medium  capacity,  with  580 
beds  for  patients  and  40  for  attendants,  arranged  on  three  floors,  the 
most  of  them  being  on  the  second  and  third  floors.  The  fact  that  it 
was  a  railway  depot  made  it  one  of  the  chief  distributing  hospitals 
in  the  city.  By  February,  three  of  these  hospitals  had  their  staffs 
complete:  Dr.  John  Neill,  as  surgeon-in-charge,  at  Broad  and 
Cherry,  with  Drs.  Yarrow,  Woodhouse,  Harrison  Allen  and  H.  M. 
Bellows  as  assistants,  and  with  George  W.  Shields,  E.  B.  and  J.  W. 
Corson,  James  Tyson  and  W.  B.  D.  Blackwood  as  medical  cadets; 
at  Fifth  and  Buttonwood,  Dr.  Meredith  Clymer  was  surgeon-in- 
charge,  witli  Drs.  B.  J.  Dunglison  and  W.  M.  Breed  as  assistants, 
J.  A.  Mc Arthur  and  C.  M.  King  as  medical  cadets;  at  Christian  and 
Tenth,  Dr.  J.  J.  Beese  was  surgeon-in-charge,  with  two  medical 
cadets,  B.  Kelly  and  Edward  Brooks.  These  medical  cadets  were 
students  who  were  largely  in  attendance  at  all  the  hospitals  during 
the  war.  In  May,  1862,  716  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  arrived,  and, 
the  accommodations  proving  inadequate,  other  hospitals  were  built 
or  adapted.  In  March  of  that  year  (1862)  the  Summit  House  Hos- 
pital, a  remodeled  suburban  hotel,  out  on  the  Darby  road  about 
four  miles,  had  been  opened.     It  was  a  three-story  structure,  65  feet 


I.\    PHILADELPHIA. 

by  50  feet  and  bad  arrangements  for  pavilions,  sheds  and  tents,  in 
emergency.  The  pavilion  system  was  adopted  ;ii  the  suggestion  of 
the  Sanitary  Commission.  This  hospital  had  two  pavilions  <>n  one 
side  "f  the  hotel  ami  one  od  the  other,  the  regular  capacity  being 
;'..".:;  hols  for  patients,  nol  counting  emergency  beds.  Another 
which  adopted  this  plan  was  Cuyler  Bospital  ai  Germantown,  an 
old  three-story  town  hall,  with  a  row  of  pavilions  extending  from 
a  corridor,  seven  <>n  "no  side  and  two  on  the  other. 

In  May  the  greatest  of  all  the  hospitals,  not  only  of  Philadel- 
phia, hut  of  the  entire  country,  was  begun  in  West  Philadelphia, 
at  Forty-fourth  and  Spruce  streets,  under  the  direction  of  Surgeon 
1.  I.  Haves  of  the  United  States  Volunteers.  This  was  nearly  a 
thousand  beds  larger  than  any  in  Washington,  and  more  than  a 
hundred  larger  than  the  next  largest  one,  that  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
It  was  begun  on  May  1st,  and  was  ready  for  use  in  seven  weeks, 
by  Juno  6th.  It  was  wholly  on  the  pavilion  plan,  a  long  double 
corridor,  with  parallel  pavilions  extending  at.  right  angles  on 
both  sides,  and  an  administration  building'  in  the  renter.  To 
give  an  idea  of  its  immensity,  a  short  description  by  Surgeon  IIa\  ea 
may  be  of  interest:  "The  building,"  ho  writes  in  October  of  that 
year,  "was  originally  intended  to  accommodate  one  thousand 
patients.  It  is  built  upon  the  pavilion  plan,  and  is  found  to  be 
healthy  and  convenient  of  management.  The  administration  build- 
ing, in  the  center,  is  71x»i."5  feet  and  two  stories  high.  The  lower 
floor  has  a  hall  running  through  it,  on  one  side  of  which  there  are 
three  rooms;  the  central  one  is  used  as  a  surgery  or  dispen- 
sary, the  others  as  mess-rooms  for  the  officers.  The  central  room  on 
the  opposite  side  id'  the  hall  is  the  reception-room ;  this  is  divided 
by  a  railing,  behind  which  is  the  office  of  the  assistant  executive 
officer.  Next  to  this  room  is  the  office  of  the  surgeon-in-charge  and 
of  the  executive  officer;  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  reception  room  is 
the  office  of  the  resident  surgeons,  and  back  of  that  the  donation- 
room.  On  the  second  floor  of  the  administration  building  are 
twelve  rooms,  which  are  used  as  quarters  for  the  officers;  in  addi- 
tion to  these  there  are  for  the  same  purpose,  two  one-story  buildings 
on  the  east  front,  each  T.Vxlt  feet  and  each  containing  five  rooms. 


268  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

The  administration  building  stands  between  and  is  attached  to 
two  corridors,  71  feet  apart,  which  are  14  feet  wide  and  13  feet 
high,  and  originally  560  feet  long.  These  and  the  wards  are  only 
one  story  high.  The  corridors  run  east  and  west  and  are  parallel 
with  each  other.  The  wards  stand  at  right  angles  to  them,  and  each 
is  167  feet  long,  24  feet  wide  and  13  feet  high;  the  roof  has  a  pitch 
of  six  feet,  and  hence  the  height  of  the  ward  to  the  peak  is  19 
feet;  there  is  no  ceiling;  the  wards  are  twenty-one  feet  apart. 
In  the  original  plan  there  were  twenty  wards — ten  on  each 
side.  Soon  after  the  original  building  was  completed,  four  wards 
were  added  on  either  side,  making  twenty-eight  in  all,  and  the 
corridors  were  lengthened  to  740  feet.  These  corridors  terminate 
at  the  eastern  end  in  a  store-house,  which  is  two  stories  high; 
the  second  story  furnishes  quarters  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 
At  the  other  end  the  corridors  terminate  in  a  smoking-room,  28x25 
feet,  for  the  patients.  Over  the  smoking-room  are  quarters,  on  one 
side  for  the  clerks,  and  on  the  other  for  druggists.  A  small  wing, 
running  off  from  each  corner,  midway  between  the  smoking-rooms 
and  the  administration  building,  furnishes,  on  one  side,  a  room  for 
the  chief  ward  master  and,  on  the  other,  a  mess-room  for  clerk  and 
druggists.  Two  wings,  of  the  same  dimensions  as  the  wards,  and 
running  parallel  with  them,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  corridors, 
are  used  as  kitchens  and  laundries,  the  one-half  of  each  being 
appropriated  to  either  purpose.  The  hospital  thus  consists  of  a 
central  administration  building,  two  attached  corridors  used  as 
dining-rooms,  and  on  either  side  fifteen  wings."  The  appoint- 
ments and  supplies  for  this  immense  hospital  were  a  village  in 
themselves.  The  buildings  formed  a  parallelogram  815  feet  long  by 
433  feet  wide,  and  over  eight  acres  in  area,  one-half  being  covered 
by  hospital  floors.  The  largest  number  this  hospital  was  intended 
to  accommodate  was  2,000,  but  before  October,  2,458  were  actually 
cared  for  at  one  time,  and  before  the  war  closed  it  had  a  capacity  of 
over  3,500.  The  name  of  this  institution  was  Satterlee  Hospital.  In 
October,  it  had  a  medical  staff  of  thirty-five,  exclusive  of  eighteen 
cadets.  The  thirty-six  hospital  and  tent  wards  had  each  a  sur- 
geon, a  sister  of  charity,  ward  master,  three  nurses,  and,   gen- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

erally,  a  medical  cadet;  there  being  as  many  as  forty-one  cadets 

;n  >  period.     Ii   was  to  hospitals  like  these  thai   mosl   of  the 

greatest  physicians  and  Burgeons  of  Philadelphia  gave  their  serv- 
ices. 

Nex1  iii  size  to  Satterlee,  and  only  exceeded  elsewhere  in  the 
United  States  by  the  hospital  a1  Portress  Monroe,  was  Mower  Hos- 
pital, at  Chestnul  Bill,  opened  in  December  of  thai  year  |  L862).  It 
occupied  four  blocks,  between  AbingtoD  and  Springfield  avenues, 
and  the  Chestnut  Bill  Railway  and  the  County  Line  road,  with  the 
entrance  from  Willow  Grove  avenue.  Its  map  gives  the  appear- 
ance of  a  necklace,  with  long  pendants,  tin-own  into  the  shape  of  a 
square,  with  rounded  corners,  the  necklace  proper  being  the  corri- 
dor, 2,40(1  feet  by  16  feet,  and  the  pendants  projecting  from  it  form- 
ing the  50  pavilions  or  wards.  The  space  surrounded  by  the  corridor 
contained  a  field  of  seven  acres,  in  the  center  of  which  was  the  ad- 
ministration building,  connected  with  the  long  sides  by  a  transveise 
corridor,  and  with  the  railway  entrance  by  another  corridor.  The 
other  necessary  buildings  were  in  the  enclosure,  while  the  pa  vilions 
all  extended,  as  has  been  said,  from  the  outside  of  the  encircling 
corridor.  This,  it  will  be  seen,  was  nearly  equal  in  capacity  to 
Satterlee,  each  of  them  being  almost  three  times  as  large  as  an\ 
of  the  dozen  other  military  hospitals  in  the  city  and  suburbs.  Its 
capacity  was  about  400  below  that,  of  Satterlee. 

About  two  months  later,  February,  L863,  another  hospital  was 
established  about  four  miles  from  Philadelphia  on  the  (iernian- 
town  turnpike,  near  Nicetown,  and  given  the  name  of  McClellan 
Hospital.  Its  form  was  after  the  Mower  plan,  except  that  the  cor- 
ridor map  would  look  rather  like  a  boat  with  rounded  ends  and  par- 
allel sides,  the  pavilion  wards,  is  in  number,  projecting  from  its 
outside,  rts  capacity  was  nearly  1,100  beds.  Two  other  hospitals. 
somewhat  larger  than  this,  were  those  at  Haddington  and  Summit 
House,  the  former  with  L,329  beds  and  the  latter  with  1.204.  Nexl 
in  size  to  Mc<  'lellan's  Hospital  was  the  Convalescenl  Hospital,  with 
Kit;  beds  ;Cuyler  Hospital,  with  040;  the  Broad  Street  Hospital,  with 
525;  the  South  Street  Hospital, with  288;  the  Turner's  Lane  Hospital 
with  285;  the  citizens'  Voluntary  Hospital,  with  236;  the  Officers' 


270  HISTOKY  OF  MEDICINE 

Hospital,  and  that  of  Camac's  Woods,  with  92;  and  the  Islington 
Hospital,  with  60.  Another  large  suburban  hospital  was  at  White 
Hall,  with  1,369  beds.  This  made  fifteen  military  hospitals,  in  and 
about  Philadelphia  in  December,  1864.  At  this  date,  there  were 
patients  in  them  as  follows,  the  officer  in  charge  and  bed  capacity 
being  given  with  each:  At  Satterlee,  surgeon  I.I.Hayes  (bed  capac- 
ity 3,519),  were  2,464;  at  Mower,  surgeon  J.  Hopkinson  (3,100),  were 
2,311;  at  White  Hall,  assistant  surgeon  W.  H.  Forwood  (1,369), 
were  776;  at  Haddington,  surgeon  W.  S.  Gross  (1,329),  were  970; 
at  Summit  House,  surgeon  J.  H.  Taylor  (1,204),  were  845;  at  Mc- 
Clellan,  surgeon  L.  Taylor  (1,089),  the  beds  were  full,  1,089;  at  the 
Convalescent,  surgeon  T.  B.  Reed  (766),  were  590;  at  Cuyler,  assist- 
ant-surgeon H.  I.  Shell  (646),  were  380;  at  Broad  Street,  assistant 
surgeon  T.  C.  Brainerd  (525),  were  441;  at  South  Street,  acting- 
assistant  surgeon  B.  J.  Levis  (288),  were  the  full  number  288;  at 
Turner's  Lane,  surgeon  II.  A.  Christian  (285),  were  211 ;  at  the  Citi- 
zens' Voluntary,  surgeon  Ii.  S.  Kenderdine  (236),  were  48;  at  the 
Officers,  assistant  surgeon  S.  A.  Storrow  (92),  were  20;  and  at 
Islington,  acting-assistant  surgeon  J.  V.  Patterson  (60),  were  15. 
This  gives  a  total  bed  capacity  of  14,508,  with  8,638  patients  in  the 
fifteen  hospitals  in  1864.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Philadelphia  was 
an  enormous  hospital  center  during  the  entire  war. 

A  few  facts  will  show  how  Philadelphia  compared  in  this 
respect  with  other  parts  of  the  United  States.  In  the  whole  Union 
there  were  16  hospital  departments,  with  a  total  bed  capacity  of 
118,057.  The  largest  of  these  departments  was  that  of  Washing- 
ton, with  21,426  beds,  while  Philadelphia  came  next,  with  18,709. 
The  next  largest  was  almost  4,000  beds  smaller  in  capacity,  and  no 
others  are  to  be  compared  with  it.  The  Department  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  situated  between  two  departments  whose  centers  were 
Baltimore  and  New  York,  and  embraced  the  hospitals  in  this 
state  and  one  at  Beverly,  New  Jersey.  Outside  of  Philadelphia 
and  its  suburbs  in  the  state  were  hospitals  at  Chester,  York  and 
Pittsburg,  which,  with  the  one  at  Beverly,  had  a  combined  bed 
capacity  of  only  4,201,  so  that  Philadelphia  and  its  environs,, 
with  14,508  out  of  the  total   18,709   bed   capacity,    almost   con- 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  271 

Btituted  the  department  Tims,  it  may  i»<-  said  thai  Phila- 
delphia nearly  constituted  the  second  largest  department  in 
the  United  States,  and  that  it  contained  the  largest  and  third 
largest  of  the  hospitals  Satterlee  and  Mower.  In  ;i<l<liii«.n  to 
this  fact,  Philadelphia  and  New  ¥orh  furnished  by  far  the  largest 
part  of  the  medical  supplies  for  the  entire  army.    At  Philadelphia 

the  Government  established  a   laboratory,  •  of  three,  for  the 

manufacture  of  medicines,  and  its  record  for  economy  and  service 
by  far  surpassed  both  the  others. 

In  these  hospitals  nearly  all  of  the  most  skillful  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  Philadelphia  saw  more  or  less  of  service  during  all  the 
years  of  the  war,  adding  greatly  thereby  to  their  usefulness 
and  to  their  fame.  It  is  a  misfortune  that  the  records  of  these 
hospitals  are  withheld  from  the  public  by  the  War  Department  by 
the  orders  of  February  23,  1879  (m),  for  although  partial  lists  of 
some  hospitals  and  even  complete  lists  of  a  few  are  accessible,  no 
complete  list  of  all  has  been  found  attainable.  It.  is  safe  to  say, 
however,  that,  with  hardly  an  exception,  all  the  best  known  mem- 
bers of  the  profession  who  were  citizens  of  Philadelphia  at  that 
time,  served  in  some  of  these  great  hospitals  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
period. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  and  the  renewed  activity  in  medical 
circles,  there  arose  a  number  of  serious  questions  connected  with 
the  founding  of  new  colleges.  Some  of  these  institutions  had  a 
brief  but  legitimate  career,  and  some  others  had  an  equal  brevity, 
but  not  so  much  can  be  said  for  their  legitimacy.  The  general 
purpose  of  the  class  of  schools  referred  to,  was  to  have  a  place 
where  "all  systems  of  medicine"  could  be  studied  by  both  sexes. 
They  were  neither  pure  Eclectic  nor  Homeopathic,  and  can  only 
be  described  as  "irregular."  The  Eclectics  never  obtained 
a  footing  of  any  consequence  in  Philadelphia,  although  the  Homeo- 
pathic school  has  won  itself  a  place.  The  institutions  referred 
to  were  made  up  largely  of  free  lances  from  all  quarters  of  medi- 

(m)    These  orders  say:    "Compilations  or  statements  rotative  to  individual  offi- 
cers, enlisted  men  or  organizations,  will  not  be  furnished  from  the  records  on  file 
in  the  Record  and  Tension  Office,  for  historical,  memorial  or  statistical  pun 
or  for  publication,  or  to  complete  the  records  of  states,  societies,  or  associations. 


272  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ciDe.  Those  among  which  the  great  bogus-diploma  scandal 
occurred  had  assumed  names  and  titles  containing  the  word  "Uni- 
versity," ostensibly  because  of  their  "universal"  aims,  but,  as  some 
believed,  really  as  a  means  of  trading  on  the  prestige  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania.  There  were  four  chartered  schools  beside 
the  University,  which  coutained  this  name  in  their  title:  The 
American  University  of  Philadelphia;  the  Philadelphia  University 
of  Free  Medicine;  Penn  Medical  University,  and  the  Philadelphia 
University  of  Medicine  and  Surgery.  The  two  at  the  end  of  the  list 
became  merged  under  the  title  of  the  one  last  named.  Soon  after 
the  war  closed  it  was  rumored  that  these  institutions  were  selling 
bogus  diplomas,  and  that  the  chief  offenders  were  named  Paine 
and  Buchanan.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania  led  in  an  attack 
on  all  these  institutions  and  secured  a  legislative  investigation  in 
1872.  The  fight  was  long  and  bitter,  extending  over  a  dozen  years, 
but  resulted  in  the  disappearance  of  all  these  institutions,  although 
some  of  them  strongly  defended  their  legitimacy. 

Of  all  the  new  colleges  that  arose  during  this  period  or  of  the 
old  ones  which  revived,  but  one  became  permanent,  and  that  was 
the  Woman's  Medical  College,  which  resumed  its  lectures  in  its 
new  building  in  October,  1862.  The  event  was  a  most  important 
one  in  the  history  of  the  entrance  of  women  into  the  profession  of 
medicine,  and  this  institution  undoubtedly  had  the  honor  of  bear- 
ing the  brunt  of  the  fight,  and  of  winning  the  cause.  The  most 
important  part  of  the  struggle  fell  within  these  years.  The  adop- 
tion of  medicine  as  a  career  for  women  has  always  met  with  strong 
opposition  or  as  ardent  approval;  partisan  feeling  seeming  insepa- 
rable from  any  consideration  of  the  question.  The  movement  grew 
out  of  the  demand  for  larger  feminine  privileges  in  all  walks  of 
life,  and  has  now  amply  justified  its  claims;  but  readjustments  are 
seldom  accomplished  without  friction,  and  some  peculiar  difficulties 
arose,  one  of  which  concerned  the  supposed  necessity  of  young  men 
and  women  attending  the  same  courses  on  anatomy  together.  It 
was  on  this  latter  point  that  a  most  serious  outbreak  occurred 
during  the  progress  of  the  cause  in  Philadelphia.  This  outbreak 
is  evidence  of  the  fact  that  any  innovation  must  go  through  the 


[N  PHILADELPHIA.  273 

process  <>f  evolving  its  proper  place  and  sphere.  No  one,  probably, 
but  would  ;i  <lmi  i  thai  the  innovation  in  question  is  still  in  course  of 
evolution;  if  anything  were  needed  to  remind  one  of  the  fact,  it  is 
thai  many  medical  schools  and  societies  do  not  admil  women,  and, 
that  the  Woman's  Medical  College  does  not  admil  men,  excepl 
in  its  faculty.  <>n  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  granted  by  all,  thai  a 
dearly  defined  and  rightful — even  admirable-  position  is  already 
recognized  for  women  as  trained  muses,  or  nurse-physicians,  and 
for  women  physicians  proper.  The  story,  so  far  as  Philadelphia 
and  the  Woman's  College  are  concerned,  comprises  the  events 
beginning  will)  the  action -of  the  County  Medical  Society  in  L859 
against  the  recognition  of  women  as  practitioners,  and  culminating 
in  1871  with  the  practical  admission  of  a  representative  of  tin- 
Woman's  Medical  College  into  the  American  Medical  Association, 
although  the  formal  admission  of  a  woman  into  both  the  National 
and  County  societies  came  some  years  later. 

From  the  time  when  Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  who  had  been 
a  student  of  Dr.  William  Elder  of  Philadelphia,  was  the  first  grad- 
uated woman  physician  in  the  world  (in  1848),  to  the  time  that  t  la- 
first  woman's  medical  college,  that  at  Philadelphia,  graduated  its 
first  class  of  seven  young  women  (in  1851),  was  but  three  years. 
From  that  time,  when  two  of  these  graduates,  Dr.  Auu  Preston  and 
Dr.  Hannah  Longshore,  a  relative  of  one  of  the  professors,  began 
practice, -to  November  10,  1858,  when  medical  women  had  become 
so  numerous  and  aggressive  that  the  first  public  action  concerning 
them  was  taken  by  the  County  Medical  Society,  was  but  a  little 
over  seven  years.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  this  growth 
was  parallel  with  the  extension  of  those  schools  for  teaching  "all 
systems  of  medicine"  to  both  sexes,  and  that  the  medical  education 
of  women  became  almost,  inextricably  confused  in  the  public  and 
professional  mind  with  irregular  schools  and  irregular  members  of 
the  profession.  Indeed,  some  of  the  earlier  friends  ami  professors 
of  the  Woman's  College  itself  were  thought  of  in  the  profession  at 
large  as  identified  with  or  leaning  toward  some  of  the  medical 
heresies  so  rife  in  that  day.  So  extended  was  this  feeling  that  the 
women  themselves  took  measures  to  secure  entire  control  of  the 

is 


274  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

college,  and  soon  succeeded  in  making  it  a  regular  woman's  schooL 
of  a  high  order,  by  women  and  for  women. 

The  action  of  the  County  Medical  Society,  in  1858,  was  taken 
long  before  these  changes  were  so  fully  effected  as  to  be  clearly  and 
unequivocally  understood  in  the  entire  profession.  This  resolu- 
tion, signed  by  the  secretaries  of  the  Censors  and  the  Society, 
Drs.  D.  Francis  Condie  and  E.  J.  Levis,  was  as  follows:  "In  reply 
to  the  proposition  embraced  in  the  resolutions  submitted  for  their 
opinion,  the  Censors  respectfully  report  that  they  would  recom- 
mend the  members  of  the  regular  profession  to  withhold  from  the 
faculties  and  graduates  of  female  medical  colleges,  all  countenance 
and  support,  and  that  they  cannot,  consistently  with  sound  medi- 
cal ethics,  consult  or  hold  medical  intercourse  with  their  profess- 
ors or  alumni."  This  resolution  was  carried  up  to  the  State 
Society  the  next  year,  1859,  where  the  action  was  confirmed,  with- 
out objection.  In  the  Montgomery  County  Society,  however,  was 
Dr.  Hiram  Corson  and  others,  who  did  object  later  on,  in  1860,  and 
who  secured  the  cooperation  of  that  society  in  a  contest  for  the 
recognition  of  women.  Dr.  Corson,  whose  niece  was  the  second 
woman  graduate,  to  whose  progress  his  aid  had  been  rendered, 
from  his  conviction  that  there  was  a  true  place  for  the 
woman  physician,  led  the  fight  in  the  State  Society  in  vain.  After 
the  close  of  the  civil  war,  the  authorities  of  the  Female  Medical 
College  of  Pennsylvania  (n),  in  1866,  appealed  to  the  State  Society, 
asking  it  not  to  refuse  them  recognition  any  longer,  as  the  college 
standard  was  now  high  and  its  professors  equal  to  the  best.  Drs. 
Ann  Preston  and  Emeline  H.  Cleveland  had  been  the  chief  instru- 
ments in  this  improvement.  The  appeal  was  in  vain  that  year,  and 
the  next.  In  1870,  the  fight  was  renewed,  partly  because  of  a 
counter-action  in  the  Philadelphia  County  Society  the  year  before, 
when  some  city  physicians,  Drs.  Alfred  Stille,  Washington  L.  Atlee 
and  others,  did  consult  professionally  with  such  physicians  as  Dr. 
Emeline  Cleveland,  holding  that  the  code  of  ethics  was  not  con- 
cerned with  sex.  The  result  was  that  the  action  of  1860  was 
repealed;  the  State  Society  removed  its  ban  on  the  recognition  of 

(n)    Its  present  came,  "Woman's,"  was  not  taken  until  1867. 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

women  in  practice,  and  th<-  Philadelphia  Society  followed  this 
action  three  years  later,  in  L871,  tin-  Woman's  Medical  Colli 
secured  rcm-nii i<>n  for  its  graduates  in  consultation.  The  ques« 
tion  had  been  one  of  the  chronic  disturbances  of  the  County,  State 
and  National  bodies  for  almost  as  long  as  slavery  had  troubled 
Congress.  In  (.869,  both  the  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania  llos- 
]>it uls  had  opened  their  clinical  lectures  to  women,  and  ii  was  in 
the  latter  that  the  revolt  of  the  male  students  occurred;  while  from 
the  faculties  of  the  two  colleges  and  from  the  staff  of  the  hospitals 
came  a  vigorous  remonstrance  against  the  attendance  of  both  Be 
In  1871,  the  latter  hospital  reaffirmed  its  determination  to  admit 
women  on  some  basis,  although  it  was  many  years  before  it  was 
satisfactory  to  the  women  students  in  either  hospital.  Other  hos- 
pitals followed  t  his  example,  and  soon  after  the  close  of  t  his  period 
(in  1878)  the  service  of  female  physicians  on  the  stall's  of  public 
institutions  began  with  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Cleveland  as  gyne- 
cologist to  the  Department  for  the  Insane  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  previous  efforts  gave 
confidence  for  the  renewal  of  the  fight  in  the  national  organ- 
ization. In  the  meeting  of  that  body,  the  year  before,  namely, 
1S70,  I>rs.  Henry  Hartshorne  and  Charles  II.  Thomas  (o),  delegates 
from  the  Woman's  College  and  Hospital  in  this  city,  were,  after 
much  curious  parliamentary  skirmishing,  refused  admittance  as 
representatives,  but  were  admitted  in  a  personal  capacity.  In  1871, 
Dr.  Thomas  became  enrolled  as  a  delegate,  by  a  parliamentary 
error,  and  the  point  was  practically  and  favorably  settled.  The 
whole  ([ii  est  ion  was  shelved  at  the  next  meeting  by  the  development 
of  another  most  important  question  in  Philadelphia  medicine:  the 
limiting  of  representation  to  county  societies.  This  transferred 
the  contention  to  the  County  Society,  so  far  as  Philadelphia  women 
were  concerned;  for  a  <  Jhicago  woman,  the  first  to  be  received,  was 
admitted  in  the  national  meeting  of  1876,  in  Philadelphia.  The 
fight  in  the  County  Society  continued  for  many  years  and  lias  to 
do  with  the  next  period. 

(o)    Both  gentlemen  were  members  of  the  faculty  of  the   Woman's  College 
the  first  being  also  on  the  lecture  staff  of  the  University  Medical  Scl 


270  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

The  years  1871-72  were  marked  by  disasters  as  well  as  vic- 
tories. The  period  of  the  Eevolution  and  War  of  1812  might  be 
characterized  as  the  Yellow  Fever  Period,  so  far  as  epidemics  are 
concerned,  and  the  ante-Civil  War  decades,  as  the  Cholera  Period ; 
the  one  now  under  consideration  could,  with  equal  propriety,  be 
called  the  Smallpox  Period,  and  the  next  one,  possibly,  the  Typhoid 
Period.  In  general  terms  it  may  be  said  that  the  yellow  fever 
ceased  to  be  a  recurring  epidemic  in  1820.  The  years  that  might 
be  properly  called  yellow  fever  years  were  those  of  1793,  '94,  '95,  '96, 
'97,  '98  and  '99,  when  the  losses  from  that  disease  were  largest; 
and  the  years  of  decline:  1802,  '03,  '05,  '19  and  '20,  the  deaths  rang- 
ing from  20  to  93,  respectively,  in  1819  and  1820,  to  the  appalling 
figures  of  1793  and  1798,  which  have  been  given  elsewhere  in  de- 
tailed accounts.  Twelve  years  after  the  yellow  fever  had  prac- 
tically disappeared,  came  the  worst  scourge  of  cholera  the  city  ever 
experienced.  This  was  in  1832.  The  first  case  appeared  on  July 
5th;  the  culmination  was  reached  on  the  27th  and  28th  of  the  same 
month,  and  the  final  reports  were  made  on  October  4th.  Some  put 
the  beginning  of  the  epidemic  as  early  as  the  24th  of  June.  This 
was  a  year  when  cholera  was  epidemic  also  in  Quebec,  Montreal 
and  New  York,  Philadelphia  suffering  less  than  any  of  these  cities 
in  number  of  cases  and  in  deaths;  the  latter  reaching  only  935, 
about  one-third  as  many  as  in  New  York.  The  disease  prevailed 
more  extensively  in  Moyamensing  and  Southwark  than  in  any 
other  portion  of  the  city.  The  next  serious  cholera  year  was  in 
1849,  when  1,049  deaths  occurred,  which,  considering  the  difference 
in  population  was  considerably  less  disastrous,  in  proportion, 
than  that  of  1832.  These  are  practically  the  only  visitations 
from  cholera  with  which  the  city  has  had  to  contend,  the  last  one 
of  any  importance  being  in  1866.  Cases  of  smallpox  were  formerly 
not  infrequent;  indeed,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  its  ravages 
have  been  felt  more  or  less  from  the  very  first  settlement,  but  it 
was  only  during  1871-72  that  it  became  epidemic  in  Philadelphia. 
For  instance,  there  were  145  deaths  in  1808,  and  from  that  time 
down  to  the  great  scourge  of  1871-72  there  were  but  seven  years 
when  no  deaths  from  smallpox  were  recorded.     These  were  the 


I.\   PHILADELPHIA.  !7" 

years  L812-13-14-15  and  1820-21-22.  Of  the  other  years,  thottc  in 
which  the  deaths  reached  above  •'><><>,  were  L824  with  325  deaths, 
1852  wiili  127,  L861  with  758,  L865  with  524.  Then  came  the  fatal 
season  of  ili<'  winter  of  L871-72,  when  the  death-rate  reached  ;i 
total  <>f  4464,  since  which  time  it  has  never,  to  any  extent,  been 
epidemic.  In  patio  of  deaths  to  the  thousand  of  population  these 
years  show  some  interesting  facts:  the  only  years  thai  rose  above 
two  per  thousand  were  1824  and  tie-  s«';is<m  of  isTl-TH:  tin-  former 
beinu  2.37  and  the  last  being,  respectively,  2.78  for  L871,  and  3.83 
for  1872,  or  over  six  per  thousand  for  the  entire  epidemic,  'it'  ;i 
powder  magazine,"  said  one  of  the  firsl  public  papers  of  the  State 
Board  of  Health  many  years  later,  "had  exploded  in  the  bearl  of 
Philadelphia  on  the  1st  of  January,  L872,  this  calamity,  frightful 
as  it  would  have  been,  would  not  have  caused  a  tithe  as  many 
deaths,  would  not  have  produced  a  hundredth  pari  as  much  suffer- 
ing, would  not.  have  affected  an  approach  t<>  as  great  a  pecuniary 
loss  as  did  the  epidemic  of  smallpox,  which  was  then  raging. 
Thousands  of  lives,  tens  of  thousands  of  maimed,  disfigured  or 
invalided  persons,  millions  of  money — such  was  the  cost  of  that 
explosion  of  disease."  There  was  about  one  death  a  week  during  all 
of  July,  1871,  but  it  was  the  last  week  of  September  before  the 
rate  went  above  a  half  dozen.  The  first  week  in  October  it  rose  to 
23,  and  steadily  increased  until  it  was  above  100  the  second  week 
in  November.  It  reached  its  highest  record,  233,  for  the  week  end- 
ing December  2,  and  kept  well  up  near  that  figure  for  about  two 
months;  indeed  the  figures  fell  so  slowly  that  it  was  the  third  week 
in  March,  1872,  before  they  went  below  a  hundred  a  week,  and  not 
until  May  before  titty  a  week  was  reached.  Even  in  dune  there 
was  an  average  of  twenty  deaths  weekly,  and  it  was  September 
before  a  month  passed  without  at  least  a  score  of  smallpox  fatali- 
ties. No  part  of  the  city  was  exempt  from  its  ravages,  but  it  was 
most  fatal  in  the  Nineteenth.  Twenty-sixth.  Seventeenth.  Second, 
First,  Fourth,  Seventh,  sixteenth.  Eighteenth  and  Twenty-fifth 
wards  (p). 

ijn    Scarlet   fever  was  remarkably  fatal  during  tins  period  also,  particularly 
in  1861.  1805  and  1870. 


278  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Typhoid  fever  became  alarmingly  frequent  during  the  next 
decade.  Even  before,  in  1865  and  1876,  it  had  been  almost  as  prev- 
alent as  in  the  worst  epidemic  year  of  that  disease,  1888,  which 
may  be  largely  accounted  for  by  the  increased  crowds  during  the 
war  and  during  the  Centennial  celebration. 

Present  freedom  from  epidemics  is  due,  first  to  quarantine 
measures,  and,  later,  to  increased  application  of  the  great  and  rap- 
idly developing  science  of  hygiene  and  sanitation  through  city  and 
state  boards  of  health;  and  it  was  largely  out  of  the  experiences  of 
this  period  that  the  first  measures  were  taken  to  secure  the  cap- 
stone of  the  sanitary  system,  the  State  Board  of  Health  (q).  Epi- 
demics came,  it  was  assumed,  by  the  vessels  of  the  port,  and  so 
early  as  1700,  as  has  been  said,  an  act  was  passed  to  provide  for 
inspection  of  vessels,  and  in  1720  Dr.  Patrick  Baird  became  physi- 
cian of  the  port.  Following  him  came  Dr.  Thomas  Graeme  and 
Dr.  Lloyd  Zachary,  appointed  in  1728;  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  in  1841; 
Dr.  James  Hutchinson,  consultant,  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Bush,  resi- 
dent, in  1790;  Dr.  James  Mease,  resident,  in  1795;  Dr.  James  Duf- 
field,  consultant,  in  1795;  Dr.  J.  Bedman  Coxe,  1798;  Dr.  James 
Hall,  1799;  Dr.  Samuel  Duffleld,  1800;  Dr.  John  Syng  Dorsey,  1813; 
Dr.  Alexander  Knight,  1814;  Dr.  Josiah  Steward,  1827;  Dr.  William 
C.  Brewster,  1831;  Dr.  John  A.  Elkinton,  1836;  Dr.  Isaac  X.  Mar- 
selis,  1839;  Dr.  Henry  Dietrich,  1845;  Dr.  William  Henry,  1848; 
Dr.  David  Gilbert,  1852;  Dr.  J.  Howard  Taylor,  1855;  Dr.  Eliab 
Ward,  1850;  Dr.  S.  P.  Brown,  1858;  Dr.  John  F.  Trenchard,  1861; 
Dr.  H.  Ernest  Goodman,  1867;  Dr.  Walter  A.  Hoffman,  1873;  Dr. 
Philip  Leidy,1874;  Dr.  Robert  H.  Alison,  1883;  Dr.  Henry  Leffmann, 
1884;  Dr.  William  H.  Kandle,  1887;  Dr.  Henry  Leffmann,  1891;  Dr. 
Edward  O.  Shakespeare,  1892;  Dr.  Henry  C.  Boenning,  1893.  This 
ceased  to  be  a  state  office  in  1893,  and  the  office  of  Lazaretto 
Physician  was  also  changed  to  that  of  Quarantine  Physician, 
Dr.  Boenning  becoming  the  appointee.     This  office  at  the  quaran- 

(q)  The  first  suggestion  of  a  State  Board  came  at  the  close  of  this  period  by 
way  of  the  national  and  state  medical  societies,  but  an  act  was  not  secured  until 
June  3.  1SS5.  Its  first  meeting  occurred  on  July  2,  four  of  the  six  members  being 
Philadelphia  physicians;  Dr.  remberton  Dudley,  chairman;  Dr.  Benjamin  Lee,  Dr. 
J.  V.  Edwaids  and  Mr.  Rudolph  Hering. 


i\  PHILADELPHIA. 

tine  station  began  in  L800  with  the  appointment  '»t'  Dr.  Mitchell 
Leib.  Province  <>r  State  [sland,  at  the  wrest  side  "i  the  mouth 
of  the  Schuylkill,  had  been  secured  as  a  lazaretto  in  L742-43  (old 
style),  and  by  L793-94  ;ill  vessels  were  ordered  to  anchor  there  for 
examination  l>.\  quarantine  masters,  uone  <>i  whom,  by  the  way, 
were  physicians.  In  L794,  ;i  Board  <>t  Health  \\;i>  created  and  one 
of  iis  first  acts  was  the  recommendation  of  measures  to  b< 
observed  ;ii  i  he  quarantine  station.  This  led,  in  1*011,  to  tin-  creation 
of  the  office  of  Quarantine  Master,  which  lasted  ninety-three  years; 
but  as  lie  was  not  a  physician,  professional  interest  attaches  only 
to  the  successors  to  I  >r.  Leib,  wlm  was  appointed  at  the  same  date 
There  were  Dr.  Nathan  Dorsey,  appointed  in  L805;  Dr.  George 
Buchanan,  L806;  Dr.  Edward  Lowber,  L808;  Dr.  Isaac  Hieater, 
180i>;  Dr.  Thomas  Mitchell,  L813;  Dr.  Joel  U.  Sutherland,  L816; 
Dr.  George  F.  Lehman,  lslT;  Dr.  Joshua  W.  Ash,  L836;  Dr.  Wilmer 
Worthington,  1839;  Dr.  Jesse  W.  Griffiths,  1842;  Dr.  Joshua  Y. 
Jones,  L845;  I>r.  James  S.  Rich,  1848;  Dr.  T.  J.  P.  Stokes,  L854;  Dr. 
Heury  Pleasants,  L855;  Dr.  J.  Howard  Taylor,  ls.~>(;;  Dr.  L.  S.  Gil- 
bert, 1858;  Dr.  I).  K.  Shoemaker,  L861;  Dr.  Thomas  Stewardson, 
1864;  Dr.  George  W.  Fairlamb,  1865;  Dr.  William  S.  Thompson, 
1867;  Dr.  J.  Howard  Taylor,  1870;  Dr.  D.  K.  Shoemaker,  1>7:'>;  Dr. 
\Y.  T.  Robinson,  1878;  Dr.  F.  S.  Wilson,  1884;  Dr.  II.  B.  Brusstar, 
L887;  \h:  Edwin  M.  Herbst,  1891,  and  Dr.  Boenning  as  Quarantine 
Physician  in  1893. 

The  lazaretto,  or  quarantine  station,  was,  for  various  reasons, 
forced  farther  down  the  river,  and  in  February,  1801,  it  was  opened 
on  Tinicuni  Island,  where  it  fulfilled  its  duties  for  nearly  a  century; 
when  it  was,  in  1  Sl».~»,  removed  to  its  present  location,  farther  down 
the  river  at  Marcus  Hook.  The  most  serious  suffering  at  the  laza- 
retto in  recent,  years  was  experienced  in  1 S70,  during  the  effort  of 
the  officers  to  prevent  yellow  fever  from  entering  the  city. 

While  preventive  measures  were  taken  at  the  lazaretto,  the 
Hoard  of  Health,  amidst  all  its  changes  since  its  formation  in 
1S!»4,  has  steadily  improved  the  sanitary  and  hygienic  conditions 
within  the  city,  and,  probably,  made  its  most  important  advances 
during  this  period,  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  fatal  experiences 


280  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  1871-72,  and  the  influences  brought  to  bear  through  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association.  No  better  view  of  its  progress  has  been 
given  than  in  the  following  excerpts  from  an  account  of  it  recently- 
prepared  by  the  late  President  of  the  Board,  Dr.  W.  H.  Ford,  by 
whose  permission  his  advanced  sheets  have  been  used  (r). 

Dr.  William  H.  Ford,  whose  History  of  the  Board  of  Health  is 
so  prominent  a  feature  of  this  chapter,  died  shortly  after  he  com- 
pleted it.  The  following  obituary  of  this  distinguished  sanitarian 
is  taken  from  the  Medical  Record  of  October  30, 1897:  Dr.  William 
H.  Ford,  president  of  the  Philadelphia  Board  of  Health,  died  sud- 
denly of  heart  disease  at  his  summer  home  at  Belmar,  N.  J.,  on 
October  18th,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight  years.  He  was  graduated 
from  Princeton  College  in  18G0  and  from  Jefferson  Medical  College 
in  1863.  He  was,  in  1862,  appointed  acting  medical  cadet  in  the 
United  States  army,  being  stationed  at  the  Wood  Street  United 
States  Army  General  Hospital  in  Philadelphia.  Later,  he 
was  detailed  as  medical  officer  on  board  the  hospital  steamer 
WThilldin  in  the  Pamunkey  River,  where  he  continued  in  service  for 
a  short  time,  when  he  was  again  stationed  at  the  Wood  Street 
Hospital,  remaining  there  until  the  spring  of  1863.  In  the  follow- 
ing summer  he  was  appointed  assistant  surgeon  of  the  Forty-fourth 
Regiment,  Pennsylvania  Volunteers,  and  soon  afterward  he  was 
made  surgeon.  He  remained  with  his  regiment  until  the  defeat  of 
General  Lee,  after  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  when  he  was  mustered 
out  of  service.  In  1863  he  was  elected  resident  plrysician  in  the 
Philadelphia  Hospital,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  reelected. 
In  1865hewent  abroad  and  spent  three  years  in  general  and  medical 
study.  In  1868  he  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  private,  and 
from  1869  to  1871  he  was  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in 
the  Philadelphia  School  of  Anatomy.  During  the  Centennial  Expo- 
sition in  1876  he  was  a  member  of  the  Centennial  Medical  Commis- 
sion of  Philadelphia,  being  also  chairman  of  the  committee  of  this 
body  on  sanitary  science.  In  the  same  year  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the   International   Medical   Congress,  held   at   Philadelphia.     In 

(r)    It  -was  prepared  as  a  souvenir  of  a  meeting  of  the  American  Public  Health 
Association. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  281 

is7i  l>r.  Ford  became  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Board  of 
Health,  in  1875  its  secretary,  and  in  1^77  its  president,  continning 
in  the  Latter  office  until  his  death.  During  his  connection  with 
this  board  lie  planned  and  had  issued  a  weekly  bulletin  of  vital 
statistics  of  Philadelphia.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in  organ- 
izing the  odorless  system  of  cleaning  \\<-iis.  the  public  collection 
of  garbage,  and  in  establishing  a  department  for  regulating  house 
drainage  in  Philadelphia.  The  organization  of  a  department  of 
milk  inspection  was  also  due  i<>  his  efforts.  In  1893  Dr.  Ford 
planned  and  supervised  for  tin-  Board  of  Health  the  construction 
and  fitting  up  with  all  modern  appliances  <»f  a  Large  pavilion  hospi- 
tal for  the  treatment  of  cholera  and  contagious  diseases,  in  con- 
junction with  the  .Municipal  Hospital.  He  took  an  active  interest 
in  the  construction  of  a  Large  and  complete  disinfection  plant  at  the 
lazaretto,  and  proposed  the  erection  of  a  hospital  for  tuberculosis 
at  this  station.  In  1876  Dr.  Ford  was  elected  physician  to  tin- 
Foster  Home.  In  1879  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Managers  Of  the  Sanitarium  Association  of  Philadelphia,  and  in 
the  same  year  lie  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors  oi 
the  Tenth  Ward  Charity  Society  and  was  elected  chairman.  Dr. 
Ford  was  the  author  of  a  thesis  on  "Gunshot  Wounds  of  the  Chest.** 
founded  upon  his  experience  in  military  hospital  wards.  From 
1872  to  1870  he  edited  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  from 
1872  to  1875  he  compiled  the  vital  statistics  of  Philadelphia.  I  It- 
was  the  author  of  "Statistics  of  Births,  Marriages  and  Deaths  in 
the  City  of  Philadelphia,"  published  in  1874.  He  was,  for  several 
years,  one  of  the  associate  editors  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical 
Times. 

It  is  known  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury notice  was  made  of  provisions  for  a  public  slaughter-house, 
for  draining  hollows,  for  regulating  the  keeping  of  cows,  for  grub- 
bing and  cleaning  land  between  Broad  street  and  the  River  Dela- 
ware, and  for  the  purpose  of  sowing  grass,  in  174>,  on  account  of 
the  danger  of  malarial  disease,  the  swamp  land  on  Dock  Creek, near 
Spruce  street,  was  tilled  in  as  a  sanitary  measure,  advocated  by 
Dr.  Bush  and  others.      In  the  primitive  city,  pumps   were  rarely 


282  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

seen.  Such  wells  as  existed  were  generally  in  the  streets  for 
general  use.  In  1784  it  is  said  there  was  a  well  to  every  house,  and 
the  water  was  good  and  clear.  The  yellow  fever  epidemic  in  1793 
brought  about  a  change  of  opinion  with  regard  to  pump  water, 
which  had  hitherto  been  regarded  with  favor,  and  led  to  the  con- 
struction of  waterworks.  The  city  waterworks  were  introduced  in 
1799  by  building  a  power-house  on  the  Schuylkill  Elver,  south  of 
Market  street,  and  a  marble  edifice  at  Centre  Square  as  a  "receiv- 
ing fountain."  In  1818  steam  pumping  was  installed  at  Fair- 
mount.  The  Schuylkill  water  was  always  unquestionably  excel- 
lent and  would  be  to-day  but  for  constant  extraneous  pollution. 

Watson,  in  his  Annals,  speaks  of  dyspepsia  as  a  disease 
scarcely  known  among  the  primitive  inhabitants,  and  of  apoplexy 
as  less  frequent  than  it  has  now  become.  These  he  esteems  as 
diseases  of  increased  civilization  and  produced  by  the  cares  and 
anxieties  of  modern  existence.  The  City  Hospital  was  at  first 
united  with  the  Poor  House.  "At  and  before  1710  it  was  the  prac- 
tice when  sick  emigrants  arrived  to  place  them  in  empty  houses 
about  the  city.  Sometimes  diseases  were  imported  to  the  neigh- 
borhood as  once  occurred,  particularly  at  Willing's  alley.  On  such 
occasions  physicians  were  provided  for  them  at  the  public  expense." 
"The  Governor  was  induced,  in  1741,  to  suggest  the  procuring  of  a 
pest  house  or  hospital;  and  in  1742  a  pest  house  was  erected  on 
Fisher's  Island,  called  afterward  'Province  Island,'  because  pur- 
chased and  owned  by  the  Province  for  the  use  of  sick  persons 
arriving  from  sea."  This  was,  in  reality,  the  first  quarantine  sta- 
tion ever  organized  on  the  Delaware. 

Yellow  fever  was  the  great  scourge  that  afflicted  Philadelphia 
in  its  early  history.  Extensive  commercial  relations  with  the  West 
Indies  opened  a  channel  for  the  introduction  of  the  pestilence. 
Smallpox  occasionally  broke  out  among  the  early  settlers;  it  was, 
in  fact,  introduced  by  them.  Malarial  fevers  were  prevalent,  in 
some  years  proving  very  malignant.  It  has  been  only  within  the 
last  two  or  three  decades  that  these  fevers  have  been  rare  in 
Philadelphia.  Typhus  fever  was  occasionally  imported  from 
Europe. 


[N  PHILADELPHIA. 

in  Mm-  autumn  of  L669,  yellow  fever  was  imported  from  tin- 
West  I  in  lies  ;iml  proved  rery  fatal,  t  w  <  >  hundred  and  twenty  <i  \  ing 
of  the  disease.  The  summer  of  1 71 7  was  remarkable  for  the  "great 
prevalence  of  fever  and  ague  in  the  count  \-\  parts  adjacent  to  Phil- 
adelphia." In  1741,  and  then  again  in  L743,  yellow  fever  pre- 
vailed. In  1747  the  city  was  visited  by  what  was  called  the 
''Bilious  plague  preceded  by  influenza."  "Epidemic  pleurisy"  was 
very  fatal  in  the  spring  of  L748.  In  I7."»i  and  in  17r>.~>  there  were 
many  deaths  from  "Malignant  Fever,"  which  was  called  I  in-  "Dutch 
Distemper,"  supposed  to  have  been  communicated  by  immigrants 
from  Germany  and  Holland.  It  is  spoken  of  as  "Jail  fever"  and 
was  probably  true  typhus.  Smallpox,  which  was  introduced  at 
the  beginning  of  the  settlement,  has  ever  since  prevailed  to  some 
extent.  Before  the  discovery  of  vaccination  great  hope  was  placed 
in  inoculation  as  a  protection  against  the  disease.  It  was  first 
practiced  in  Philadelphia  in  1731.  It  had  been  practiced  in  New 
England  much  earlier,  as  far  back  as  1721.  Although  there  were 
cases  of  smallpox  on  Penn's  ship  in  16S2,  the  first  mention  of  the 
disease  as  prevalent  in  Philadelphia  was  in  1701.  In  the  year  1726 
a  vessel  infected  with  smallpox  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  and  the 
passengers  were  taken  to  the  Swedes'  Church,  below  town,  and 
conducted  through  the  woods  to  the  Blue  House  Tavern,  at  South 
street.  All  recovered  without  communicating  the  disease  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city.  Again,  in  1730,  there  was  "great  mortality 
from  smallpox."  Inoculation  was  practiced  until  March  29,  1824, 
when  a  law  was  enacted  making  it  a  misdemeanor,  except  by 
special  permission  of  the  Board  of  Health.  Thomas  Jefferson  was 
successfully  inoculated  in  1700.  This  practice  was  succeeded  by 
vaccination,  which  was  introduced  into  the  country  by  W'Mterhouse 
in  1801.  The  mortuary  records  of  smallpox  in  Philadelphia  are 
very  complete  from  L807  to  the  present  date.  Since  1807,  in  only 
fourteen  years  has  the  city  been  entirely  free  from  the  disease. 
The  years  of  the  greatest  mortality  were  L808,  L811,  L823,  L824,  1834, 
1841,  1852,  L861,  1871,  1872  Mini  1881.  The  death-rate  from  tin- 
disease  wms  greatest   in   1S71   Mini   L872,  the  years  of    the    great 


284  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

epidemic.  Since  1881  the  deaths  have  been  very  few;  in  six  years 
none  at  all. 

The  lamentable  experience  of  1793  led  to  the  adoption  of  gen- 
eral health  laws.  The  hospital  upon  State  Island,  formerly  Prov- 
ince Island,  was  ordered  to  be  repaired  for  the  admission  of 
patients,  and  a  resident  physician  appointed.  Vessels  coming*  up 
the  river  were  ordered  to  anchor  for  inspection.  By  this  act,  a 
Board  of  Health  was  established  in  the  city.  It  consisted  of 
twenty-four  inspectors  appointed  by  the  Mayor  and  corporation  of 
the  city  and  the  six  justices  of  Northern  Liberties  and  Southward 
The  Act  was  passed  on  the  22d  of  April,  1794,  and  the  Board  organ- 
ized in  the  following  May. 

The  Board  of  Health  was  abolished  in  1797  and  a  new  corpo- 
ration created,  entitled  "The  Managers  of  the  Marine  and  City 
Hospital."  The  Board  consisted  of  twelve  persons  and  was 
invested  with  all  the  powers  of  the  old  Board  of  Health  and  with 
more  extensive  authority.  In  1798  the  new  Board  entered  upon 
its  duties.  The  presence  of  yellow  fever  was  announced  by  the 
Board  of  Health  on  the  7th  of  August,  1798.  The  population  of  the 
city  at  this  time  was  said  to  be  55,000.  It  is  estimated  that  40,000 
people  fled  from  the  city  on  account  of  the  pestilence. 

On  August  9,  1798,  the  City  Hospital  was  opened  at  the  Wig- 
wam, on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill,  at  Race  street,  and  four  cases 
of  yellow  fever  were  admitted.  The  disease  was  very  malignant. 
It  is  said  that  in  private  practice  three  out  of  four  died,  while  in 
the  City  Hospital  only  two  out  of  four  died.  The  number  of  deaths 
due  to  this  epidemic  was  3,645,  occurring  mostly  during  the  sum- 
mer. In  1793  the  percentage  of  deaths  was  22.  In  1798  it  is  said 
to  have  reached  24,  of  the  population  remaining  in  the  city.  The 
old  lazaretto  property  was  sold  to  the  United  States  Government 
and  added  to  the  Fort  Mifflin  property.  The  year  1803  began  by 
the  reappointment  of  the  entire  Board  of  Health.  The  quarantine 
season  of  1803  opened  April  1st.  A  building  was  constructed  in 
1805  at  the  lazaretto,  for  the  detention  of  seamen  and  passengers 
from  infected  vessels. 

Nothing  very  special  occurred  in  quarantine  legislation  until 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

the  year  1818,  when  ;i  code  of  laws,  including  quarantine,  waa  passed 
by  the  Legislature,  many  of  which  are  in  existence  at  the  presenl 
day.  Hv  this  ad  the  Board  of  Health  was  reorganized  by  chang- 
ing ili«-  system  of  appointment  to  that  of  election,  eacb  ward  elect- 
ing one  member  annually,  in  January,  L831,  the  Board  of  Bealth 
memorialized  Congress  to  appoint  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the 
nature  of  cholera  and  the  prevention  of  its  introduction  into  ilii» 
country.  The  Board  adopted  stringent  regulations.  Thorough 
cleanliness  was  insisted  upon.  A  Committee  on  Sickness  was 
organized,  and  physicians  appointed.  Cholera  hospitals  were 
organized  in  different  sections  of  the  city.  The  first  case  of  spo- 
radic cholera  was  reported  on  July  9,  L832.  By  July  L8tb  five 
hospitals  were  in  readiness  for  the  sick,  and  others  were  in  prepara- 
tion. By  the  middle  of  September  the  epidemic  of  cholera  had 
largely  subsided. 

Yellow  fever  and  smallpox  occasionally  prevailed,  but  not  to 
any  j^reat  extent  up  to  the  year  1847.  This  was  a  year  of  large  im- 
migration by  sailing  vessels  from  England  and  Ireland,  and  much 
typhus  fever  existed  among  the  passengers.  In  the  year  1848 
Asiatic  cholera  appeared  in  the  city.  Cholera  hospitals  were  estab- 
lished for  the  reception  of  patients.  By  July  4th  forty-seven  cases 
a  day  and  twenty  deaths  were  reported.  It.  is  said  that  this  disease 
came  by  way  of  New  York  City  and  not  by  the  river.  The  sane- 
year  vessels  were  detained  at  the  Lazaretto  station  on  account  of 
smallpox  and  typhus  fever.  The  sick  from  typhus  fever  were 
removed  to  the  Dutch  House.  Immigration  this  year  was  als«. 
considerable  and  the  lazaretto  was  kept  in  active  operation. 
Almost  every  arrival  brought  with  it  cases  of  typhus  fever.  The 
Board  of  Health  was  very  active  that  year  in  making  preparations 
for  an  epidemic  of  cholera,  which  did  occur  in  the  summer. 

As  early  as  1708  there  were  Street  Commissioners  appointed, 
for  we  observe  that  in  that,  year  a  contract  was  awarded  to 
remove  "all  such  dirt  as  shall  arise  from,  and  is  incident  t<>.  com- 
mon housekeeping  within  the  paved  streets  of  tin-  city."  In  1793. 
when  the  yellow  (ever  raged,  nearly  five  thousand  persons  died.  On 
October  Llth,  the  height  of  the  epidemic,  119  burials  took  place, 


286  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

which,  with  the  present  population  of  Philadelphia,  would  corre- 
spond to  over  twenty-five  hundred  burials.  On  October  31st  a  hos- 
pital was  established  on  "Bush  Hill,"  in  the  mansion  vacated  by 
Vice-President  Adams.  The  experience  of  this  year  led  to  improve- 
ments in  the  sanitary  system  and  quarantine,  the  appointment  of 
a  Board  of  Health,  a  Lazaretto  Physician  and  a  Health  Officer.  In 
1797,  when  yellow  fever  again  appeared,  hundreds  of  tents  were 
placed  along  the  Schuylkill  and  proved  of  great  advantage.  From 
August  to  October  of  that  year  there  were  3,573  deaths. 

Philadelphia  has  not  suffered  excessively  from  outbreaks  of 
yellow  fever  since  1805.  In  1855  the  disease  appeared  on  July  19th. 
Between  that  date  and  October  there  were  128  deaths.  In  June, 
1870,  it  appeared  again,  at  the  Lazaretto,  causing  a  number  of 
deaths  there  and  later  several  in  the  city,  in  all  eighteen.  Since 
that  time,  although  yellow  fever  has  been  brought  to  the  station,  it 
has,  in  no  case,  been  transmitted  to  the  city.  In  all  epidemics  the 
fever  has  broken  out  and  prevailed  in  some  portion  of  the  city 
fronting  the  Delaware  Biver,  from  Vine  to  Christian  street,  and. 
hardly  ever  beyond  Second  street.  The  epidemic  years  specially 
noted  were  as  follows:  1699,  1717,  17G2,  1793,  1791,  1798,  1799, 
1802,  1805,  1819,  1820,  1855  and  1870.  With  the  painstaking 
enforcement  of  the  best  devised  system  of  quarantine  regulations, 
primarily,  and  the  rigid  observance  of  municipal  cleanliness,  this 
disease  is  no  longer  feared  in  Northern  cities,  and  under  the 
maintenance  of  similar  conditions  will  probably  never  again  be- 
come epidemic  in  the  North. 

The  quarantine  station  at  the  Lazaretto,  on  Little  Tinicum 
Island,  about  11  miles  down  the  Delaware,  is  of  historic  interest.  It 
was  located  there  in  1799  and  has  been  maintained  continuously 
by  the  city,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Board  of  Health,  until 
1895,  a  period  of  nearly  one  hundred  years.  In  1895  a  State  Quar- 
antine Board  was  created  and  soon  after  the  station  was  removed  to 
Marcus  Hook,  Pa.,  near  the  boundary  between  the  State  and  Dela- 
ware. There  are  now  practically  three  stations:  One  at  Cape 
Henlopen,  one  at  Beedy  Island,  both  maintained  by  the  National 
Government,  and  the  State  Station,  at  Marcus  Hook,  all  acting  in 


]\  PHILADELPHIA. 

harmony.  In  recent  years  the  quarantine  station  a1  the  Lazaretto 
has  been  greatlj  modernized  and  improved  and  well  equipped  for 
its  work.  In  anticipation  of  cholera  in  L893  si  ill  further  improve' 
mentfi  were  made,  such  as  the  erection  <»f  a  Large  steam  disinfecting 
oven  and  chambers  for  disinfection  by  chemical  fumes.  A  floating 
quarantine  <l<-t«*iit i«»n  vessel,  capable  <»f  accommodating  one  thou- 
sand persons,  and  completely  fitted  up  with  every  necessary  appli- 
ance for  disinfection,  sterilizing  water,  hat  hing,  steam  disinfection 

of  vessels,  etc.,  was  in  constant  use.      This  vessel,  perhaps  tie-  most 

complete  of  its  kind  ever  put  into  service,  was  kept  iii  active  opera- 
tion during  the  entire  season;  in  fact,  until  late  in  the  fall  of  that 
year.  Not  a  case  of  cholera  reached  tin- citv  in  that  or  any  succeed- 
ing years. 

Since  the  year  18G0,  complete  and  accurate  records  have  been 
kept  of  marriages,  births  and  deaths,  under  the  Registration  Law. 
and  the  statistics  have  been  published  annually.  Previous  to  that 
date,  the  deaths  were  published  annually  in  tabular  form  on  one 
large  sheet  of  paper,  from  the  year  1808  to  18G0,  by  the  Health 
Officer,  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Health;  with  this  there  was  also 
a  monthly  statement  of  deaths  of  adults  and  children,  from  WIT. 
inclusive.  The  weekly  deaths  were  tabulated  in  the  annual  state- 
ment, together  with  the  births,  so  far  as  they  could  be  ascertained. 
Accounts  of  births  and  burials  previous  to  the  year  1807  have  been 
preserved  on  printed  sheets,  from  17S7,  under  the  title  of  "An 
Account  of  the  Births  and  Burials  in  the  Associated  Churches  of 
Christ  Church  and  St.  Peter's  in  Philadelphia,"  but  the  series  is 
broken.  Previous  to  17s7  similar  accounts  of  births  and  burials  in 
Christ  Church  Parish,  in  Philadelphia,  running  up  to  177  J,  have 
been  preserved,  with  a  number  of  intervening  years  left  out. 
From  177-4  to  17S7  an  eventful  period  in  the  history  of  Philadelphia, 

the  records,  if  they  were  published,  have  not  been  kept.  The  valu- 
able records  which  have  been  preserved  ate  in  the  Health  Office, 
having  been  collected  years  ago  by  an  antiquarian  and  purchased 
by  the  city.  It  is  observed  that  in  the  early  account  of  births  and 
deaths,  for  example,  in  the  year  1740,  the  terms  under  which  causes 
of  deaths  were  reported  are  twenty-four,  such,  for  example,  as  "Apo- 


283  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

plex,"  "Dropsie,"  "Flux,"  "Imposthuine  in  the  Side,"  "Distempers." 
Consumption  is  mentioned  in  1849.  The  list  somewhat  increases  as 
the  years  pass  on  and  we  have  mention  made  of  bilious  fever,  chol- 
era, convulsions,  dysentery,  whooping-cough,  influenza,  measles, 
rheumatism,  typhus  fever,  etc.  In  1808,  as  has  been  said,  the 
Board  of  Health  first  published  a  statement  of  deaths,  including 
the  number  for  the  months,  and  the  total  for  the  year  1807.  This 
statement  was  further  enlarged  and  improved,  and  is  not  very 
unlike,  in  nomenclature,  the  tabular  statement  made  to-day.  A 
weekly  bulletin  of  deaths,  variously  classified,  with  meteorological 
tables,  has  been  published  since  January,  1873.  After  vaccination 
was  introduced  in  1801,  by  YVaterhouse,  inoculation  still  continued 
to  be  practiced,  for  we  observe  in  this  first  official  statement  of  the 
Board  of  Health  that  in  1807  there  were  30  deaths  from  natural 
smallpox  and  2  deaths  from  inoculated  smallpox.  The  total 
number  of  deaths  for  the  year  was  2,015.  Mortality  from  inocula- 
tion is  observed  in  the  tables  for  several  years.  In  1811  there  were 
113  deaths  from  natural  smallpox  and  4  from  inoculated  small- 
pox. Typhus  fever,  otherwise  called  putrid  fever,  seems  to  have 
been  very  prevalent  in  the  early  part  of  the  century.  In  1808  there 
were  35  deaths  ascribed  to  this  cause;  in  1809,  there  were  62;  in 
1810,  there  were  12;  in  1811,  there  were  13;  in  1812,  there  were  36; 
in  1813,  there  were  102;  in  1811,  there  were  91;  in  1815,  there  were 
81,  etc.  In  1821  there  were  307  deaths  from  typhus  fever  and  10 
deaths  from  nervous  fever.  Whether  or  not  typhus  fever  included 
what  we  denominate  as  typhoid  fever  or  typhus  mitior,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  say.  In  1754  yellow  fever  caused  7  deaths.  In  1750  small- 
pox caused  6  deaths;  in  1756, 112  deaths;  in  1757,  8  deaths;  in  1759, 
160  deaths;  in  1763,  30  deaths;  and  yellow  fever,  16  deaths.  In 
1764,  smallpox  caused  6  deaths,  and  yellow  fever,  1  death;  in  1765, 
smallpox  caused  57  deaths;  in  1766,  20  deaths;  in  1768,  4  deaths; 
in  1770,  8  deaths;  in  1772,  9  deaths;  in  1774,  11  deaths.  In  1798 
yellow  fever  caused  95  deaths.  In  1756  the  deaths  from  all  causes 
were  1,058;  in  1768,  806  deaths;  in  1769,  1,160  deaths;  in  1772,  1,070 
deaths;  in  1795,  2,275  deaths;  in  1798,  4,080  deaths;  in  1806,  1,672 
deaths;  in  1807,  1,250  deaths.     In  1832  there  were  73  deaths  from 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

cholera  morbus,  948  from  cholera  malignant,  and  366  from  cholera 
infantum.  In  the  sunn-  year  there  were  681  deaths  from  <«»n 
sumption,  ."»o7  from  scarlet  fever,  r.><'>  from  typhus  fever,  39  from 
bilious  fever  and  25  from  aervous  fever.  Inflammation  of  the  Lungs 
caused  225  deaths  and  influenza  41  deaths.  The  total  deaths  in 
j his  year  were  «;.»;'.>!>.  The  succeeding  year,  L833,  the  deaths  fell 
to  4,440,  cholera  having  entirely  disappeared.  In  is:;t  the  first 
mention  is  made  of  typhoid  fever,  in  which  year  there  were  28 
deaths,  and  also  71  deaths  from  typhus  fever.  In  L853  there  were 
26  deaths  from  yellow  fever.  In  ls.*u  there  were  1-  deaths  from 
yellow  fever,  ISO  deaths  from  typhoid  fever,  162  deaths  from  scar- 
let fever,  77  deaths  from  typhus  fever.  The  total  number  of  deat  lis 
in  that  year  was  11,814.  The  greatest  mortality  was  in  July  aud 
August.  In  1855  there  were  4  deaths  from  yellow  fever,  and  in  the 
same  year  163  deaths  from  scarlet  fever,  231  from  typhoid  and  58 
from  typhus.  The  same  year  there  were  275  deaths  from  small- 
pox. The  total  number  of  deaths  in  1855  was  10,505.  In  1858 
yellow  fever  caused  10  deaths,  and  in  this  year  there  were  9,741 
deaths  in  all.  In  the  old  mortuary  records  the  term  diphtheria 
does  not  appear,  this  disease  having  been  recorded  under  various 
names,  particularly  as  croup  and  sore  throat.  Since  the  new  regis- 
tration act  was  passed,  in  1S60,  diphtheria  figures  prominently  as  a 
cause  of  death.  This  is  owing  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  disease, 
and,  particularly  within  the  last  five  years,  to  the  valuable  aid  to 
diagnosis  a  Horded  by  bacteriological  examination,  which  all  large 
cities  and  towns  have  provided  at  public  expense.  Early  in  the 
decade,  18G0-1870,  spotted  fever  became  prominently  mentioned  in 
the  statistical  records,  and  was  a  subject  of  wide  investigation.  In 
1  863  and  1864  many  deaths  were  attributed  to  it.  In  L865  the  term 
cerebrospinal  meningitis  was  substituted  for  spotted  fever,  and 
has  been  used  ever  since.  Of  late  years  it  has  not  been  very  fre- 
quent. Typhus  fever  was  present  in  epidemic  form  in  1863,  1s'ii 
and  L865,  and  in  a  h-ss  extent  in  the  next  live  years,  although  it 
has  figured  in  the  records  to  a  moderate  extent  until  1887,  when 
not  a  single  death  took  place.  Since  this  year  typhus  has  only 
occasionally  been  a  cause  of  death.     Until  comparatively  recent 

]0 


290  HISTOIIY  OF  MEDICINE 

years  this  disease,  like  scarlet  fever,  measles,  diphtheria,  yellow 
fever/was  treated  in  general  hospitals,  particularly  in  the  Phila- 
delphia hospital.  Within  the  past  ten  years  the  Board  of  Health 
has  exercised  a  rigid  supervision  over  these  diseases  and  treated 
the  cases,  demanding  hospital  care,  in  the  Municipal  Hospital  of 
Contagious  Diseases.  In  1866  cholera  caused  910  deaths.  .  The 
disease  was  brought  into  the  port  of  New  York  among  immigrants 
and  thence  to  Philadelphia.  The  first  epidemic  of  relapsing  fever 
occurred  in  1807,  following  in  the  wake  of  typhus  fever,  with  which 
disease  it  frequently  coexists  in  Bussia.  There  were  162  deaths  in 
1870,  7  in  1871  and  1  in  1872,  after  which  year  the  disease  disap- 
peared, and  has  not  since  returned.  There  Avere  as  many  as  200 
patients  treated  in  the  Municipal  Hospital  at  one  time.  The  mor- 
tality was  not  excessive.  Scarlet  fever,  measles  and  whooping- 
cough  are  more  or  less  prevalent  annually,  but  in  certain  years 
these  diseases  have  appeared  in  epidemic  form.  Provision  is  now 
made  in  the  Municipal  Hospital  for  scarlet  fever  and  diphtheria,  but 
whooping-cough  and  measles,  except  where  they  coexist,  with  ilie 
above  mentioned  diseases,  are  not  treated  in  the  hospital.  There 
is  a  probability  that,  in  time,  these  diseases,  so  contagious  and  fatal 
in  early  life,  will  receive  the  same  care  and  restriction  in  hospitals 
as  the  other  contagious  diseases  of  early  life. 

Years  ago  Philadelphia  was  noted  for  the  cleanliness  of  its 
streets.  Citizensinsisted  on  this  hygienicmeasure  and  assisted  in  its 
maintenance.  With  the  growth  of  the  city,  the  deterioration  of  cob- 
ble-stone paving,  and  the  difficulty  of  keeping  so  uneven  a  surface 
clean,  a  gradual  neglect  of  civic  cleanliness  crept  in.  The  contract 
system  became  a  disgrace  to  the  city,  and  reform  movements  were 
instituted,  but  with  little  success.  The  Board  of  Health  frequently 
condemned  the  condition  of  the  streets  as  a  contributing  cause  of 
disease,  and  demanded  improvements,  especially  improved  paving 
of  the  streets.  Finally,  in  1869,  after  successive  failures  to  retrieve 
the  good  fame  of  the  city,  the  Legislature  placed  street  cleaning  in 
the  hands  of  the  Board  of  Health,  but  under  the  contract  system, 
and  also  with  the  grave  mistake  of  limiting  the  contracts  to  one 
year.     For  more  than  ten  years  the  Board  of  Health  struggled  with 


l.\  PHILADELPHIA.  291 

this  work  and  wrought  ;i  l: i«-;i t  improvement,  but  the  fad  was 
apparenl  thai  the  city  could  never  i><-  kepi  in  clean  condition  bo 
long  as  the  cobble-stone  pavemenl  and  brick  gutters  for  Burface 
drainage  were  retained.  The  City  Councils  assumed  the  control  of 
street  cleaning  under  the  agency  of  the  Highway  Department,  but 
with  no  better  results.  Some  improvement,  however,  was  observed 
on  streets  newly  paved  with  granite  blocks.  In  L875  and  L876,  in 
view  of  the  Centennial  Celebration,  an  impetus  was  given  to  the 
construction  of  improved  pavements,  and  this  good  work  has  con- 
tinued ever  since.  Finally,  cobble-stone  pavements  were  pro- 
hibited, and  from  that  time  an  improved  condition  in  the  cleanli- 
ness of  the  streets  has  been  observed.  Upon  the  establishment  <>f 
the  Department  of  Public  Works,  street  cleaning  and  garbage 
removal  (first  established  by  the  Hoard  of  Health  in  L872),  were 
placed  under  a  separate  bureau,  organized  anew,  and  excellent 
results  have  been  obtained  ever  since.  With  new  and  improved 
pavements,  mostly  asphalt  and  granite  blocks,  the  abandonment 
<>f  surface  drainage,  and  the  systematic  disposal  of  garbage  by 
incineration  and  utilization,  the  city  is  maintained  in  a  dean  and 
satisfactory  condition,  which  must  necessarily  have  a  beneficial 
influence  on  the  public  health.  The  original  sewers  were  con- 
structed to  receive  storm  water  and  surface  drainage,  ami  when  in 
the  course  of  time  it  was  proposed  to  empty  water-closets  and 
cesspools  into  them,  the  Hoard  of  Health  strongly  protested;  con- 
tending that  sewers  should  be  specially  constructed  for  this  object 
ami  that  it  was  important  to  have  adequate  flushing.  The  Board 
of  Health  was  righl  in  its  view  of  the  requirement  of  properly  con- 
structed sewers,  lint  the  water-carriage  system  is  the  only  suit- 
able system  for  large  places,  and  it  was  better  to  utilize  the  old 
system  with  proper  safeguards,  and  improve  the  construction  <>f 
new  sewers,  than  to  continue  the  old  system  of  accumulated  tilth. 
To-day  privies  or  cesspools  are  not  permitted  where  a  sewer  is 
accessible,  and  cesspools  must  be  constructed  strictly  according  i<» 
rule.  The  consequence  is  that  cesspools  and  deep  wells  are  dimin- 
ishing in  number  yearly,  while  sewerage  is  increasing.  The 
immense    volume  of    water  in   the    Delaware   makes   the   pollution 


292  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

unappreciable,  but  the  day  may  come  when  some  plan  of  sewerage 
purification  will  be  required,  for  which  purpose  there  are  ample 
facilities  on  the  low  lands  below  the  built-up  portions  of  the  city. 
Early  in  1876,  the  old  bucket-and-cart  system  for  removal  of  excreta 
was  abolished,  and  for  it  was  substituted  the  odorless  method  of 
air-tight  apparatus,  pumps  and  hose.  The  work  is  done  in  day- 
light instead  of  at  night,  and  is  therefore  under  possible  strict 
supervision.  No  satisfactory  method  of  disposal  of  excreta  has  yet 
been  devised,  although  laborious  efforts  have  been  made  to  secure 
such  a  reform. 

The  regulation  of  the  slaughtering  of  cattle  has  been  attempted 
with  only  partial  success.  The  first  advance  in  this  line  was  the 
establishment  of  immense  cattle  yards  and  abattoirs  on  the  pla- 
teau west  of  the  Schuylkill,  between  Market  and  Callowhill  streets, 
in  1896,  which,  at  the  time,  were  among  the  most  complete  in  the 
country.  Later,  a  meat  inspection  service  was  organized  with 
excellent  results. 

Under  the  new  city  charter,  approved  June  1,  1885,  and  effect- 
ive April  1,  1887,  important  changes  were  made  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Health.  It  provided  that  the  members  of  the 
Board  of  Health  "shall  be  five  in  number,  to  be  nominated  by  the 
Mayor  and  confirmed  by  the  Select  Council  for  a  period  of  three 
years."  Before  this  change,  the  Board  was  constituted  by  the  Act 
of  April  7,  1859,  and  consisted  of  twelve  members,  three  of  whom 
were  elected  by  City  Councils  and  the  remaining  nine  appointed  by 
the  courts,  the  term  of  service  being  three  years.  The  new  charter 
does  not  change  the  authority  and  duties  of  the  Board,  but  places 
the  executive  control  in  the  hands  of  the  Director  of  Public  Safety 
subject  to  the  orders  and  resolutions  of  the  Board.  For  system 
sake,  the  Board  of  Health  is  attached  to  the  Department  of  Public 
Safety.  The  decade,  1887-1896,  is  probably  the  most  important  in 
the  history  of  sanitary  organization  in  Philadelphia.  During  this 
period  the  growth  of  the  city  has  been  rapid,  and  municipal 
improvements  extensive,  and  important,  there  has  also  been  rapid 
advancement  in  preventive  medicine  and  in  the  perfection  of  meas- 
ures of  sanitary  administration.     Greater  efforts  have  been  made 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

to  preserve  public  health.  Less  than  twenty  years  ago  the  work- 
ing force  of  the  Board  of  Health  consisted  of  ;i  corps  of  unprofes- 
sional nuisance  inspectors  and  one  medical  inspector,  assisted  by 
the  Pori  Physician.  To-day  a  Large  body  of  trained  and  expert 
officers  are  busily  engaged  in  the  performance  of  I h<-  various  duties 
connected  with  the  whole  field  «>r  sanitary  inspection  and  investi- 
gation, s<»  thai  for  emergencies  and  for  ordinary  routine  work  the 
preparations  are  comprehensive,  precise,  methodical,  up-to-date  and 
adequate,  the  results  being  satisfactory;  the  confidence  <>f  the  com- 
munity established  and  cooperation  secured. 

A  system  of*  house-to-house  inspection  established  in  1888,  on 
account,  of  vessels  arriving  in  pori  with  yellow  fever  on  board,  lias 
since  been  continued  with  beneficial  results.  This  work  is  per- 
formed in  the  spring,  summer  and  autumn  and  results  in  abating 
nuisances  which  would  otherwise  be  unobserved.  The  expendi- 
ture of  half  a  million  of  dollars  in  asphalting  and  paving,  with 
smooth  impervious  surfaces,  small  streets  and  alleys  in  the  crowded 

sections  of  the  city,  has  returned   markedly   g 1    results.     This 

work  has  boon  continued  and  has  changed  whole  districts  from  the 
diitiest  to  the  cleanest  sections  of  the  city.  In  1888,  an  appropria- 
tion for  a  milk  inspector  was  secured  for  1880,  under  an  obsolete 
law  passed  in  1878.  A  new  law  was  proposed,  but  defeated  in  the 
Legislature  <>f  1888  and  1889.  Subsequently,  Councils  were  induced 
to  pass  milk  ordinances,  and  later  on,  the  Legislature  passed  a  law, 
the  so-called  "Pure  Food  Act,"  which  gives  ample  authority  for 
conducting  this  important  service.  There  is  now  a  complete  inspec- 
tion service  and  chemical  ami  biological  laboratories,  where  every 
necessary  test  can  be  made  for  use  in  enforcing  the  law.  A  law 
regulating  house  drainage  and  ventilation  was  passed  in  1>VV. 
under  which  a  most  complete  inspection  service  was  organized. 
This  division  is  self-sustaining.  It  is  absolutely  essential  now  that 
all  house  drainage  in  Philadelphia  shall  be  controlled  and  approved 
by  the  Board  of  Health,  the  penalty  for  violation  of  the  law  being 
severe  and  prohibitory.  An  important  improvement,  much  needed, 
was  rhe  construction  of  the  intercepting  sewer  along  the  east  bank 
of  the  Schuylkill  River  above  Fairmount  dam,  and  extending  to  all 


294  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

sections  of  the  city,  which  naturally  would  drain  into  the  city's 
water  supply.  The  public  schools  are  now  subject  to  inspection; 
at  first  there  was  one  medical  officer  detailed  for  this  duty;  at  pres- 
ent there  are  sixteen.  A  plan  is  on  foot  to  extend  the  inspection  to 
the  school  children,  employing  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  physicians 
for  the  purpose.  The  advantages  of  such  service  are  at  once  appar- 
ent. 

The  last  days  of  1889  witnessed  the  commencement  of  an  epi- 
demic of  influenza,  which  subsequently  became  widespread  and 
very  destructive  to  life,  through  its  sequels  and  complications. 
The  epidemic  was  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  it  swept  over  two 
continents  almost  simultaneously,  affecting  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  the  population,  embarrassing  trade  and  causing  an  amount 
of  sickness  and  suffering  that  cannot  be  computed.  It  is  also 
remarkable  that  in  the  face  of  so  widespread  and  death-dealing  a 
malady,  recounted  day  by  day  with  minuteness  in  the  newspapers, 
the  people  maintained  an  indifference  which  can  only  be  explained 
by  a  misconception  of  the  seriousness  of  the  evil.  Had  cholera,  or 
yellow  fever,  or  smallpox  as  suddenly  appeared,  a  panic  would 
have  spread  throughout  the  land.  Since  the  above  date  this  dis- 
ease has  frequently  appeared,  but  in  less  fatal  form.  The  microbic 
origin  of  the  disease  seems  to  have  been  established,  although  it  is 
still  difficult  to  explain  the  simultaneous  appearance  of  the  disease 
in  widely  separated  countries.  Xo  special  official  restrictive  meas- 
ures have  yet  been  attempted. 

Public  disinfection,  established  at  first  under  the  direction  of 
a  single  officer,  has  since  been  organized  on  a  large  scale,  with  a 
chief  and  a  number  of  assistants.  This  division  is  able  to  do  all 
public  disinfection  required,  and  essays  to  keep  abreast  of  all  mod- 
ern advances  in  disinfection.  The  latest  advance  is  the  use  of  for- 
maldehyde gas,  generated  at  the  time  of  use,  although  the  sprayed 
formaline  has  been  in  use  by  the  Board  of  Health  since  1892, 
probably  the  earliest,  application  of  this  disinfectant  on  a  large 
scale  in  the  United  States.  Bacteriological  tests  show  the  spray  to 
be  effective,  but  probably  less  so  than  the  fresh  gas.  The  extensive 
st»-el  disinfecting  chamber  constructed  in  1892,  answers  every  pur- 


I  \  PHILADELPHIA. 

pose  for  i  li»'  city,  thus  Par,  for  disinfect  ing,  by  steam,  Large  articles, 
such  as  beds,  mattresses,  etc.  Many  public  baths  have  beer  estab 
lished  in  the  city,  and  are  frequented  every  season  by  great  multi- 
tudes of  people.  Only  a  few  of  the  smaller  bathing  establish* 
ments,  and  these  private  enterprises,  are  maintained  all  the  year 
round.  Auxiliary  organizations  have  done  much  to  reduce  infan 
tile  mortality  by  providing  excursions  and  days'  outings  in  th<k 
country  and  on  the  river.  In  this  line  of  relief,  the  Sanitarium 
Association  and  the  Children's  Country  Week  have  been  faithfully 
Working  for  years.  In  one  season  as  many  as  L78,000  children  and 
caretakers  have  been  provided  a  day's  excursion  seven  miles  down 
the  river.  The  Country  Week's  operations  are  more  limited,  but 
proportionally  effective. 

In  1860,  public  vaccination,  hitherto  performed  indifferently, 
was  transferred  to  the  Board  of  Health.  Since  that  year  the  aver- 
age annual  vaccination  has  been  12,!M7,  though  in  years  of  small- 
pox prevalence  the  operations  have  been  far  above  this  figure,  as 
many  as  30,000  in  one  year.  The  Act  of  Assembly  of  IS!).**,  prohibii  - 
ing  the  attendance  at  school  of  all  nnvaccinated  children,  has  had 
a  very  salutary  effect,  and  has  been  rigidly  enforced.  A  child  who 
has  had  smallpox  is  admitted  without  vaccination.  An  illustra- 
tion of  the  vagaries  of  opinion  is  seen  in  the  declaration  of  the 
Board  of  Health  in  1860  that  the  maintenance  of  a  hospital  for 
contagious  and  infectious  diseases  beyond  what,  is  provided  at  the 
Lazaretto,  is  no  longer  essential,  and  as  a  result,  of  this  declaration 
notice  was  given  of  the  intended  vacation  of  the  hospital  early  in 
L861.  A  decided  change  in  opinion,  however,  took  place  in  the 
succeeding  year,  when  smallpox  broke  out  and  measles,  typhoid 
fever  and  other  zymotic  diseases  appeared  among  the  army  recruits. 
The  Board  of  Health,  by  request  of  Councils,  promptly  resolved  to 
continue  the  existing  hospitals,  and  furthermore  declared  "that  a 
permanent  and  commodious  hospital  for  the  care  and  treatment  of 
contagious  diseases  was  demanded,  and  absolutely  necessary,  in  so 
large  and  populous  a  city  as  Philadelphia."  "The  Managers  of  the 
Almshouse"  rented  the  hospital  at    Rush   Hill  in  the  latter  part   of 

1823  for  the  reception  of  smallpox  cases,  so  that  it  would  appear 


296  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

that  the  Board  of  Health  was  not  always  in  direction  of  hospitals 
for  contagious  diseases.  It  is  said  that,  up  to  the  year  1743,  there 
had  not  been  an  organized  hospital  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  In 
1826,  smallpox  broke  out  in  the  city,  and  a  house  located  near 
where  Ninth  and  South  streets  intersect  one  another  was  used  as 
an  isolation  house.  The  victims  of  this  disease,  it  is  stated,  were 
in  those  days  taken  to  farmhouses.  In  the  year  1743  a  movement 
was  started  by  the  merchants  of  the  city  to  provide  for  the  sick,  on 
account  of  the  increase  of  smallpox,  brought  by  immigrants  from 
Germany.  The  Colonial  Assembly  built  a  small  hospital  on  State 
Island,  at  a  later  period  called  Fisher's  Island,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Schuylkill  River.  This  remained  in  use  for  sick  immigrants 
until  the  year  1800,  when  the  Lazaretto,  on  Little  Tinicum  Island, 
in  Delaware  County,  was  organized.  The  calamitous  visitation  in 
1793  had  so  alarmed  the  inhabitants  that  it  was  then  considered 
absolutely  necessary  to  establish  some  measure  to  insure  the  public- 
safety.  The  Guardians  of  the  Poor  had  already  refused  to  receive 
smallpox  patients  into  the  Almshouse,  at  that  time  located  on 
Spruce  street,  between  Tenth  and  Eleventh  streets.  The  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital  was  closed  at  that  time.  The  Guardians  of  the  Poor 
took  possession  of  the  old  circus  at  Sixth  and  Chestnut  streets,  but 
the  residents  of  the  neighborhood  threatened  to  burn  the  place 
down  unless  the  sick  were  removed.  Application  was  then  made  to- 
the  magistracy  of  the  city,  and  finally  a  place  was  selected  on  Bush 
Hill. 

The  Board  of  Health  was  organized  in  1794,  and  purchased 
Fish  Tavern  on  the  west  side  of  the  bridge,  subsequently  occupied 
for  years  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company.  This  was  used 
for  a  time  for  hospital  purposes.  The  first  hospital  established  by 
the  city  was  in  1796  or  '97,  at  the  foot  of  Race  street,  on  the 
Schuylkill  River,  and  known  as  the  "Wigwam"  Hospital.  At  this 
time  it  was  a  somewhat  celebrated  tavern,  similar  to  those  of  the 
present  day,  along  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill.  The  hospital 
retained  the  name  of  the  "Wigwam"  Hospital  for  several  years; 
the  sign  that  used  to  swing  there  was  removed  to  Germantown,, 
where  it  became  defaced  by  the  ravages  of  time  and  use,  and  was 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

aftero  ard  painted  over.  In  1805,  the  citizens  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
''Wigwam"  Hospital  entered  complaints  against  the  institution. 
It  was  finally  removed  to  a  spot  on  the  Wissahickon  road,  aear 
when-  Ridge  avenue  and  Wallace  streel  now  intersect  each  other. 

Hen*  it  renin i ncd  for  t  wo  seasons  only,  when  the  citizens  demanded 
its  removal.     For  a  time  the  city  was  again  without  a  hospital. 

The  people  seemed  to  be  of  the  opinion  that  if  another  epidemic 
should  visit  the  city  buildings  should  be  erected  at  some  distant 
place  to  meet  the  emergency.  In  the  year  L810  (s),  a  hospital  for 
infectious  diseases  was  erected  <>n  Bush  Bill,  where  it  remained 
until  1855,  when  it  was  removed.  From  that  time  until  1865  the 
citv  was  without  a  hospital  for  infectious  diseases.  This  was  v.  iy 
inconvenient.  The  Board  of  Health  was  obliged  to  open  the  Laza- 
retto Hospital,  and  patients  had  to  be  removed  twelve  miles  from 
the  city.  No  one  can  form  an  idea  of  the  amount  of  suffering  they 
Were  subjected  to.  Ill  ISO.")  the  Municipal  Hospital  for  <  kmtagiouS 
Diseases,  at  Twenty-second  and  Lehigh  avenue,  was  completed  and 
handed  over  to  the  Board  of  Health.  The  plot  of  ground  contains 
over  ten  acres.  Part  of  the  plot  is  unavailable  for  use  on  account 
of  its  location  on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  The  buildings  con- 
sisted of  a  main  building  containing  a  central  administration  build- 
ing and  two  wings,  the  entire  length  of  the  structure  being  280 
feet,  and  the  width  50  feet.  There  are  now  five  separate  buildings: 
A  main  building,  one  wing  of  which  is  used  for  scarlet  fever,  the 
other  for  occasional  cases — it  may  be  mixed  cases  or  it  may  be 
typhus  fever,  etc.;  a  building  for  leprosy,  accommodating  four  cases: 
a  group  of  four  buildings,  each  pair  connected  by  a  corridor,  for 
mixed  cases  or  for  smallpox,  and  two  pavilions,  separated  by  an 
administration  building  and  dormitory  for  nurses,  which  arc  used 
for  diphtheria  patients.  There  are  no  special  private  rooms  for  pay 
patients  in  any  of  the  divisions  of  the  hospital,  excepl  in  the 
diphtheria  pavilion.  The  nearest  approach  To  private  accommoda- 
tions is  by  screening  off  a  portion  of  a  large  ward  in  which  there 
are  but  few  other  patients.  The  diphtheria  pavilion,  which  is  a  mod- 
ern structure  with  every  useful  appointment,  accommodates  one 

(s)    The  old  plate  of  the  hospital  says:  "City  Hospital,   ISOS." 


298  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

hundred  and  ten  patients.  Besides  the  six  wards,  there  are  thirteen 
comfortable,  well  ventilated,  Avell  lighted,  well  furnished  private 
rooms,  each  of  which  can  accommodate  a  patient  and  a  nurse. 
The  disinfecting  apparatus  and  ambulance  service  are  ample  and 
complete.  The  Municipal  Hospital  for  Contagious  and  Infectious 
Diseases  is  located  about  three  miles  from  the  City  Hall,  but  quite 
in  the  center  of  population.  The  site  is  preeminently  well  adapted 
for  the  work.  But,  as  would  be  supposed,  there  is  constantly  an 
agitation  of  the  question  of  its  removal,  not  from  public  advantage 
or  necessity,  but  rather  for  the  benefit  of  property  owners  in  its 
vicinity.  Nevertheless,  additions  have  been  constantly  made  to 
the  hospital  buildings,  and  when,  finally,  public  opinion  has  set- 
tled the  question  of  retaining  the  present  site,  many  needed  im- 
provements will  be  accomplished  and  the  hospital  made  complete 
and  efficient  in  all  respects. 

The  threatened  invasion  of  cholera  in  1892  was  a  blessing  in 
disguise.  By  it,  the  cooperation  of  the  local  legislative  authority 
and  favorable  public  sentiment  were  secured,  which  resulted  in  the 
introduction  of  many  sanitary  measures  of  lasting  benefit  to  the 
city.  The  Lazaretto  was  completely  equipped  and  quarantine  sur- 
veillance almost  perfectly  maintained.  Every  necessary  appliance 
for  the  treatment  of  suspects,  and  the  sick,  besides  the  disinfection 
of  vessels  and  cargo,  and  personal  effects  of  passengers,  was 
secured.  The  Quarantine  Commission  of  the  International  Confer- 
ence of  State  Efoards  of  Health  concluded  their  report  with  the 
statement  "that  to  Philadelphia  at  least  the  continent  may  confi- 
dently look  for  protection  against  the  importation  of  cholera,  so  far 
as  she  can  control  its  entry  by  way  of  the  Delaware  basin,  and  for 
limiting  its  spread  within  her  own  borders,  should  it  unfortunately 
find  its  way  into  the  city  through  other  channels."  The  force  of 
sanitary  officers  was  largely  increased  and  thereafter  maintained. 
Nuisances  in  abeyance  for  years  were  removed  because  of  avail- 
ability of  funds  for  the  purpose.  Domiciliary  inspections  over  an 
extensive  territory  were  rigidly  performed.  Stations  for  storing- 
disinfectants,  and  for  telegraphic  communication  with  health  offi- 
cials, were  established  in  all  parts  of  the  city.    Inspection  stations 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

were  established  on  various  railroads  entering  the  city,  tin-  ambu- 
lance corps  enlarged,  ;i  oew  hospital  pavilion  constructed,  and  in 
brief,  ;i  condition  of  preparation  attained  which  inspired  confidence 
in  the  community. 

<)n  January  L,  L893,  the  Board  prohibited  the  keeping  of  hogs 
in  the  city  and  county  »»i  Philadelphia,  and  also,  necessarily,  the 
feeding  of  garbage  to  swine,  thus  getting  rid  of  two  nuisances. 
The  Chemical  Laboratory,  fitted  up  in  1891,  in  the  City  Hall,  and 
supplied  with  all  necessary  apparatus  and  material  for  making 
chemical  analyses  of  water,  milk  and  food  supplies  generally,  has 
beenof  greal  service  to  the  health  administration.  The  orga  aization 
of  a  bacteriological  laboratory,  early  in  1895,  was  another  advance 
in  theapplical  ion  of  ex  net  methods  of  scientific  investigation  to  the 
protection  of  the  public  health.  It  was  not  until  the  Internationa] 
Congress  was  held  at  Budapest,  in  1S!»4,  that  a  very  widespread 
public  interest  became  manifested  in  the  flattering  prospects  which 
the  treatment  of  diphtheria  by  the  so-called  antitoxin  of  diphtheria 
seemed  to  hold  out.  Very  little  experience  in  the  use  of  this  rem- 
edy had  been  gained  in  the  United  States.  There  was.  however, 
sufficient  to  stimulate  efforts  to  found  a  laboratory  for  cultivating 
and  supplying  the  antitoxin,  as  well  as  for  furnishing  diagnostic 
tests  ami  for  cultivating  the  toxin  diphtheria.  Since  its  establish- 
ment, the  laboratory  has  been  extended  in  its  scope,  so  that  under 
the  Chief  of  the  Division  of  Pathology,  Bacteriology  and  Disinfect- 
ants, it  includes  the  investigation  of  the  etiology  of  certain  com- 
municable diseases,  their  prevention  and  possibly  their  cure,  the 
investigation  of  disinfectants  and  their  uses,  and  the  study  and 
investigation  of  all  subjects  related  to  preventive  and  curative 
medicine,  so  far  as  they  appropriately  come  within  the  scope  of 
such  an  institution.  In  ls'.ii,  the  Board  of  Health  required  of 
farmers  or  producers  of  milk  supplying  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  a 
certificate  of  clean  bill  of  health  of  their  cattle,  based  upon  the 
tuberculin  test;  otherwise  the  milk  was  liable  to  be  rejected  as 
being  "suspicious."  This  action  excited  very  free  discussion, 
especially  in  Farmers'  Institutes,  resulting  in  the  dissemination  of 
exact  information  and  useful  knowledge,  and,  in  fact,  prepared  the 


300  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

way  for  the  introduction  of  legislation  authorizing  the  establish 
ment  of  a  "State  Live  Stock  Commission,"  chiefly  concerned  in  the 
eradication  of  transmissible  diseases  among  cattle,  and  among 
these,  tuberculosis.  The  introduction  of  the  electric  passenger  rail- 
ways,  in  1893,  caused  a  praiseworthy  improvement  in  the  substitu- 
tion of  smooth,  impervious  pavements  for  the  less  cleanly  and 
unsanitary  cobble-stones.  As  a  preliminary  to  repaving,  improved 
sewers,  drainage  and  sidewalks  were  required.  The  effect  of  this 
change  is  apparent,  not  onty  in  the  increased  comfort  of  citizens,, 
the  cleanliness  of  the  thoroughfares,  but  also  in  the  improved  con- 
dition of  the  health  of  the  city.  Philadelphia  to-day  has  not  only 
the  best  system  of  electric  passenger  railways  in  the  country,  but 
the  best  paved  and  best  lighted  streets  as  well. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  sanitary  legislation  adopted  in 
recent  years  was  the  Act  of  June  IS,  1895,  to  provide  for  the  more 
effectual  protection  of  the  public  health  in  the  several  municipali- 
ties of  the  commonweatlh.  It  is  aimed  chiefly  against  the  spread 
of  contagious  and  infectious  diseases.  It  requires  all  cases  of  such 
diseases  to  be  reported  immediately  to  the  health  authorities; 
authorizes  the  placarding  of  houses  where  such  diseases  exist; 
holds  the  head  of  the  family  responsible  for  the  preservation  of  the 
placard  where  placed;  provides  for  the  proper  burial  of  the  dead 
from  infectious  diseases;  prohibits  public  funerals  in  such  cases; 
directs  the  isolation  of  infected  persons;  requires  disinfection;  regu- 
lates the  attendance  of  children  upon  schools;  prohibits  un vacci- 
nated children  from  attending  school  and  prohibits  the  use  of 
infected  articles  until  certified  as  disinfected.  By  supplementing 
the  general  health  laws  this  Act  has  added  greatly  to  the  efficiency 
of  sanitary  administration. 

The  Division  of  Contagious  Diseases,  consisting  of  a  chief  and 
fifteen  assistant  medical  officers,  is  charged  with  the  execution  of 
this  and  the  other  laws  for  restricting  or  preventing  the  spread  of 
contagious  and  infectious  diseases.  Whenever,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  Medical  Inspector  or  of  his  assistants,  a  person  suffering  from 
any  of  the  diseases  required  to  be  reported  to  the  Board  of  Health 
cannot  be  properly  cared  for  at  home,  full  authority  exists  for  hav- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  301 

ing  such  person  taken  to  the  Municipal  Hospital,  even  by  the 
employment  of  force.  The  hospital  lias  accommodation  for  ;ii><>ui 
350  patients,  and  the  excellence  of  its  administration  is  so  generally 
recognized  that  objection  is  seldom  made  to  removal  there  by 
patients  whose  cases  require  it.  Quarantine  guards  are  taken  from 
LOO  sub-policemen,  specially  selected  for  the  purpose,  and  put  under 
the  control  of  the  Medical  Inspector.  An  Act  of  July,  L895,  placed 
public  Lodging  houses  and  tenement  houses  conjointly  under  sev- 
eral bureaus  of  the  Department  of  Public  Safety,  including  the 
Board  <>f  Health.  Still  another  important  law,  passed  in  the  same 
year,  was  the  Act  entitled,  "An  act  for  the  prevention  of  blindness, 
imposing  a  duty  on  all  midwives,  nurses  or  other  persons  having 
the  care  of  infants,  and  upon  health  officers,  and  fixing  ;i  penalty 
for  neglect  thereof."  A  law  giving  authority  to  the  Board  of 
Health  to  license  lying-in  establishments  and  to  have  supervision 
over  the  same,  was  passed  by  the  preceding-  Legislature.  The 
preparation  of  the  antitoxin  of  diphtheria  by  the  Board  of  Health, 
in  quantity  more  than  could  be  used  at  the  Municipal  Hospital, 
made  it  possible  to  supply  this  material  to  physicians  for  use  iu  the 
treatment  of  the  indigent  sick.  In  addition  to  this  aid  to  the  poor, 
a  special  officer  was  appointed  to  inject  antitoxin  gratuitously  and 
to  practice  intubation.  The  bacteriological  laboratory  has  also 
been  serviceable  in  applying  a  rapid  and  satisfactory  method  for 
the  diagnosis  of  typhoid  fever,  which  will  compare  not  unfavorably 
in  point  of  efficiency  with  the  methods  now  employed  for  the 
diagnosis  of  tuberculosis  and  of  diphtheria. 

For  several  years  past  typhoid  fever,  owing  to  improved  meth- 
ods of  treatment,  has  gradually  become  less  fatal.  The  death-rate 
per  100,000  of  population  in  the  seventeen  years,  1860-180(5,  has 
varied  from  77.2  to  -V2A,  the  last  five  years  showing  the  lowest 
figures.  The  death-rate  from  consumption  has  also  been  steadily 
declining  for  many  years  past.  Philadelphia  has  always  enjoyed 
the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  healthiest  large  rilies  iu  the 
world.  The  death-rate  has  not  varied  greatly  from  year  to  year. 
The  record  of  deaths  is  complete  and  accurate,  while  the  estimated 
population    between    the    census    years    is    equally    reliable,    being 


302  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

approximately  verified  by  the  census  figures;  hence  the  death-rate- 
can  be  depended  on  as  giving  a  faithful  representation  of  the  state 
of  the  city's  health.  The  death-rate  of  Philadelphia  for  the  past 
ten  years,  1887-1896,  was  as  follows :  1887,  21.85 ;  1888,  20.04 ;  1889, 
19.74;  1890,  20.76;  1891,  21.85;  1892,  22.25;  1893,  21.20;  1894,  19.90; 
1895,  20.44 ;  1896,  20.17.  The  territory  of  Philadelphia,  since  the  act 
of  consolidation  of  1854,  is  129.4  square  miles.  The  estimated  pop- 
ulation in  1896  was  1,188,793. 

A  prominent  characteristic  of  Philadelphia  is  the  very  large 
number  of  houses,  particularly  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
laboring  classes.  Hence  the  city  is  known  as  the  "City  of  Homes.'7 
Only  a  little  over  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  population  live  in  houses 
that  contain  ten  persons;  or,  in  other  Avords,  over  ninety-five  per- 
cent, of  the  dwellings  contain  less  than  ten  persons.  This  condi- 
tion of  domicile  prevents  crowding,  and  the  absence  of  crowding 
has  a  very  beneficial  effect  upon  the  health  and  morals  of  the 
people.  Acres  of  small  dwelling  houses  are  the  pride  of  the  city. 
Building  associations,  which  are  very  numerous,  have  been  instru- 
mental in  fostering  ownership  of  small  houses  by  the  laboring 
classes.  The  number  of  dwellings  in  Philadelphia  in  1896  was 
247,668;  all  other  buildings,  stores,  etc.,  23,499;  total  number, 
271,167.  Within  recent  years  a  great  improvement  has  taken 
place  in  the  paving  of  the  city.  Cobble-stones  have  been  discarded, 
and  there  have  been  substituted  Belgian  block,  vitrified  brick  and 
sheet  asphalt,  so  that  to-day  Philadelphia  is  one  of  the  best  paved 
cities  in  the  world.  The  introduction  of  impervious  pavements, 
not  only  upon  the  main  thoroughfares,  but  in  the  courts  and  alleys,, 
which  has  been  accomplished  within  the  last  few  years,  has  been  a 
factor  in  the  improvement  of  the  public  health,  as  it  prevents  the 
accumulation  of  filth  and  the  pollution  of  the  soil.  There  are  1,400 
miles  of  streets,  of  which  980  miles  are  paved:  with  sheet  asphalt, 
180  miles;  with  Belgian  block,  345  miles;  with  vitrified  brick,  85 
miles;  macadam,  170;  cobble  and  rubble,  170;  other  kinds,  30. 
Number  of  miles  of  electric  passenger  railways,  450.  The  system 
of  electric  passenger  railways  is  most  complete,  making  every  part 
of  the  city  accessible  at  a  moderate  fare.     The  sewerage  system 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Iims  also  Imm  ti   vastly  improved,  the  modern  sewers  having]   been 
constructed  water-tighl  and  self-scouring  and  provided  with  veins. 
I'p  td  January  L,  L897,  L30  miles  of  main  sewers  have  been  con- 
structed, 662  miles  of  branch  Bewers;  total,  702  miles.    Tin-  largest 
sewer  is   20   feel    in   diameter,   ami    the   smallest    8   inches   ami 
composed  of  terra  cotta  pipe.    There  are  in  the  city  at  ilm  present 
time  7, o.'Ki  electric  Lights,  21,981  gas  lamps,  1  1,604  gasoline  lamps; 
so  thai  ilic  city  lias  the  reputation  of  being  the  i»<-st  lighted  city 
on  the  continent.    Pairmount   Park,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
parks,  contains  2,701  acres,  extending  on  both  sides  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill River  and  the  Wissahickon.     In  addition,  there  are  oumerous 
small  parks.     These  breathing  places   lor  the  people    are    very 
attractive  and  deservedly  popular.    The  water  supply  of  the  city  is 
derived  mainly  from  the  Schuylkill;  that  is,  ninety-four  per  cent. 
from  the  Schuylkill  River  and  the  remainder  from  the  Delaware. 
The  average  daily  pumpage  (1896)  is  239,600,1  Hi  -aliens.    Tin-  stor- 
age capacity  of  the  reservoirs  is  1,417,860,000  gallons.     Average 
number  of  gallons  of  water  used  daily  per  capita,  IT.".     The  water 
is  lavishly  used.     In  Europe  if  is  estimated  that   about   thirty-five 
gallons  pei-  capita  for  all  purposes  are  used.    Here  at  Philadelphia 
the  use  has  amounted  to  250  gallons  per  capita   per  diem.     The 
Schuylkill  water  is  naturally  excellent,  but  the  increase  of  popula- 
tion along  its  banks  has,  by  degrees,  contributed  to  its  pollution, 
so  that,  the  quality  of  the  water  is   not    all   that    could   be  desired. 
There  are  projects  on  foot  to  improve  it,  particularly  by  the  intro- 
duction of  natural  sand  filtration,  and  it  is  only  a  question  of  time 
when  some  such  plan  will  be  introduced,  the  result  of  which,  with 
scarcely  any  doubt,  will  add  t.o  the  improvement    of    the    public 
health.    The  altitude  of  the  city  above  mean  sea  level,  at  Broad  and 
Market  streets,  is  4S.7.'S.    The  highest  altitude  is  I  Hi  feel  ;  the  low- 
est, 2  feet.    The  average  is  110  feet    There  are  L83  cemeteries  per- 
taining  to    I'm-   city,   of    which    20    are    within    the    thickly    popu- 
lated parts  and  are  still  considerably  used.     The  streets  of  the  city 
are   maintained    in   a    clean    condition.      They    are   required    to    be 
cleaned,  that  is,  the  principal  ones,  once  a  day,  and  those  streets 
upon  which  there  is  less  traffic    three  times  a  week.     The  work  is 


304  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

done  largely  by  machinery,  supplemented  by  hand  labor.  The 
material  collected  is  transported  beyond  the  city  limits.  Some  of  it 
is  used  for  filling  up  low  lands,  etc.  Ashes  are  removed  from  all 
dwellings  once  a  week.  The  garbage  is  removed  daily  and  is  dis- 
posed of  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner  by  incineration,  and  very 
largely  by  the  reduction  process,  by  which  much  valuable  material 
is  economized. 

There  are  many  conditions  that  contribute  to  Philadelphia's 
salubrity.  There  are  the  natural  advantages  of  location,  the  mod- 
erate climate,  the  very  large  number  of  dwellings,  permitting,  as  a 
rule,  of  most  families  being  domiciled  in  separate  houses,  thus  pre- 
venting overcrowding. and  the  growth  of  the  tenement-house  sys- 
tem; the  cheapness  of  living  and  the  almost  unsurpassed  variety 
and  excellent  quality  of  food  supplies;  the  thriftiness  of  the  people, 
on  account  of  the  almost  certain  employment  of  the  masses  depend- 
ing on  the  extensive  industrial  advantages  of  the  city;  the  absence 
of  that  keen  competition  and  struggle  for  wealth  that  character- 
ize such  cities  as  New  York,  which  are  so  liable,  if  continued,  to  end 
in  premature  death;  the  unstinted  liberality  that  provides  for  all 
conditions  of  men,  the  sick,  the  helpless  and  the  unfortunate,  from 
whatever  cause,  and  the  excellent  sanitary  and  general  adminis- 
trative government  that  provides  for  the  comfort  and  guards  the 
health  of  the  community  The  progress  of  the  city  from  1682  until 
the  present  day  has  been  steady  and  surprising,  and  shows  how 
well  its  founder  planned  for  the  great  future,  in  which  he  had  the 
most  uncompromising  faith. 

Physicians,  Presidents  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  Philadelphia, 
from  the  year  1800  to  1897,  inclusive,  are  as  follow:  1806-1809, 
Thomas  C.  James,  M.  D.;  1820-1822,  Samuel  Jackson,  M.  D.;  1833- 
1835,  Robert  E.  Griffith,  M.  D.;  1836-1838,  Henry  Bond,  M.  D.;  1815- 
1846,  Xathan  L.  Hatfield,  M.  D.;  1851-1855,  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.; 
1856-1857,  Thomas  F.  Betton,  M.  D.;  1857-1858,  Joseph  R,  Goad, 
M.  D.;  1860-1861,  Paul  B.  Goddard,  M.  D.;  1862-1867,  James  A. 
McCrea,  M.  I).;  1867-1871,  Eliab  Ward,  M.  D.;  1878-1880,  William  H. 
Ford,  M.  D.;  1886  to  the  present,  William  H.  Ford,  M.  D. 

Physicians,  members  of  the  Board  of  Health,  from  the  year 


[N   PHILADELPHIA.  309 

L800  to  L897,  inclusive,  are  as  follows:  L803-1804,  Charles  Cald- 
well, M.  D.,  and  Felix  Pascalis,  .M.  D.;  L804-1806,  William  <  an 
M.  D.,and  James  Reynolds,  M.  D.;  L806-1809,  William  Carrie,  M.  I ».. 
and  Thomas  C.  James,  M.  !>.;  L809-1816,  Elijah  Griffiths,  M.  D.j 
L816-1817,  George  T.  Lehman,  M.  I>.;  L817-1818,  Thomas  C.  James, 
Si.  D.,  and  Samuel  Emlen,  Jr.,  M.  !>.;  L818-1820,  Samuel  Emlen,  Jr., 
M.  D.,  and  Nathan  Shoemaker,  M.  D.j  1820-1821,  Samuel  Jackson, 
M.  D.j  L821-1822,  Samuel  Jackson,  M.  ]).,  Samuel  Emlen,  Jr.,  M.  I  >.. 
and  Gilbert  Flagler,  M.  D.;  L822-1823,  .In...  Barnes,  .M.  I »..  Jno. 
Eberle,  M.  D.,  Barvey  Klapp,  M.  I).,  and  Jesse  B.  Burden,  M.  D.j 
1823-1824,  Jno. Barnes,  M.D.,  and  Gouvemeur  Emerson,  M.l>.:  L824- 
L825,  Gouverneur  Emerson,  M.  D.,  and  Joseph  <;.  Nancrede,  M.  D.j 
L825-1826,  Governeur  Emerson,  M.  1).,  Joseph  G.  Nam  rede.  M.  1)., 
and  Thomas  H.  Ritchie,  M.  D.;  1826-1827,  Gouverneur  Emerson, 
M.  1).,  Robert  E.Griffith,  M.  1  >..  Charles  Lukens,  M.  I).,  and  Thomas 
II.  Ritchie,  M.  !>.;  lsi'I-lsi's,  Robert  E.  Griffith,  M.  D.,  and  diaries 
Lukens,  M.  D.;  1828-1829,  Robert  E.  Griffith,  M.  D.,  Charles  Lukens, 
M.  D.,  and  Jesse  R.  Binder,  M.  D.;  1829-1830,  E.  Cooper  Cook,  M.  D., 
and  Jesse  R.  Binder,  M.  D.;  1830-1831,  John  T.  Sharpless,  M.  D.; 
1832-1833,  Jno.  T.  Sharpless,  M.  D.,  and.  William  I).  BrincklC,  M.  D.; 
1833-1834,  Henry  Bond,  M.  1).,  Robert  E.  Griffith,  M.  D.,  Jno.  T. 
Sharpless,  M.  D.,  and  William  D.  Brinckle,  M.  D.;  1834-1835,  Henry 
Bond,  M.  D.,  Robert  E.  Griffith,  M.  D.,  and  D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.; 
1835-1836,  D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.,  and  Henry  Bond,  M.  D.;  1836- 
1837,  D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.,  Henry  Bond,  M.  D.,  and  William  W. 
Gerhard,  M.  D.;  1837-1838,  Henry  Bond,  M.  D.,  D.  Francis  Condie, 
M.  D.,  and  William  W.  Gerhard,  M.  D.j  1838-1839,  William  W.  I  Ger- 
hard, M.  D.,  and  Thomas  Stewardson,  Jr.,  M.  D.;  1839-1840,  William 
W.  Gerhard,  M.  D.,  and  Thomas  Stewardson,  Jr.,  M.  D.;  1840-1841, 
William  W.  Gerhard,  M.  D.,  Nathan  L.  Hatfield,  M.  D.,  and  Abra- 
ham Helfenstein,  M.  D.;  1841-1842,  Jesse  W.  Griffith,  M.  D.,  Abra- 
ham Helfenstein,  M.  D.,  and  Mark  M.  Beeves,  M.  D.j  1842-1843, 
Mark  M.  Reeves,  M.  D.,  D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.,  and  Nathan  L. 
Hatfield,  M.  D.j  1843-1844,  Mark  M.  Reeves,  M.  D.,  and  Nathan  L. 
Batfield,  M.  D.j  1844-1845,  Mark  M.  Reeves,  M.  D.,  Nathan  L.  Hat- 
field, M.  I).,  and  John  A.  Elkinton,  M.  D.j  1845-1846,  John  A.  Elkin- 

20 


306  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ton,  M.  D.,  and  Nathan  L.  Hatfield,  M.  D.;  1846-1847,  John  A. 
Elkinton,  M.  D.;  1847-1848,  D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.,  and  John  A. 
Elkinton,  M.  D.;  1848-1849,  Jno.  A.  Elkinton,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell, 
M.  D.,  and  William  Henry,  M.  D.;  1849-1851,  Jno.  A.  Elkinton, 
M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.,  J.  D.  Logan,  M.  D.,  and  Henry  Pleas- 
ants, M.  D.;  1851-1852,  Jno.  A.  Elkinton,  M.  D.,  Henry  Pleasants, 
M.  D.,  Kichard  Gardiner,  M.  D.,  and  J.  D.  Logan,  M.  D.;  1852-1853, 
Henry  Pleasants  M.  D.,  and  Eichard  Gardiner,  M.  D.;  1853-1854, 
John  A.  Elkinton,  M.  D.,  Eichard  Gardiner,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell, 
M.  D.,  and  Henry  Pleasants,  M.  D.;  1854-1855,  Eliab  Ward,  M.  D., 
Thomas  Harper,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.,  Daniel  Hershey,  M.  D., 
James  Ash,  M.  D.,  Ephraim  F.  Leake,  M.  D.,  and  William  Gallagher, 
M.  D.;  1855-1856,  Eliab  Ward,  M.  D.,  Joseph  B,  Ooad,  M.  D.,  Wilson 
Jewell,  M.  D.,  Daniel  Hershey,  M.  D.,  William  H.  Geyer,  M.  D.,  Ben- 
jamin Housekeeper,  M.  D.,  and  William  Gallagher,  M.  D.;  1856-1857, 
Joseph  E.  Goad,  M.  D.,  Thomas  J.  P.  Stokes,  M.  D.,  Philip  De 
Young,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.,  James  McClintock,  M.  D., 
Benjamin  Housekeeper,  M.  D.,  Thomas  F.  Betton,  M.  D.,  William 
D.  Woodward,  M.  D.,  and  William  Gallagher,  M.  D.;  1857-1858, 
Joseph  E.  Goad,  M.  D.,  William  Gallagher,  M.  D.,  Philip  De  Young, 
M.  D.,  Benjamin  Housekeeeper,  M.  D.,  and  Jno.  A.  Weir,  M.  D.; 
1858-1859,  William  A.  Piper,  M.  D.,  H.  W.  Siddall,  M.  D.,  William 
Young,  M.  D.,  and  S.  S.  K.  Christine,  M.  D.;  1859-1860,  Paul  B.  God- 
dard, M.  D.,  James  McCrea,  M.  D.,  Eene  La  Eoche,  M.  D.,  James 
Bond,  M.  D.,  and  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.;  1860-1861,  Paul  B.  Goddard, 
M.  D.,  James  A.  McCrea,  M.  D.,  James  Bond,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell, 
M.  D.,  and  Bene:  La  Eoche,  M.  D.;  1861-1862,  Paul  B.  Goddard,  M.  D., 
James  A.  McCrea,  M.  D.,  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.,  Eene  La  Eoche, 
M.  D.,  and  T.  Stewardson,  M.  D.;  1862-1864,  James  A.  McCrea,  M.  D., 
Wilson  Jewell,  M.  D.,  Eene  La  Eoche,  M.  D.,  and  T.  Stewardson, 
M.  D.;  1864-1867,  James  A.  McCrea,  M.  D.,  Eliab  Ward,  M.  D.,  Wil- 
son Jewell,  M.  D.,  Bene"  La  Eoche,  M.  D.,  and  E.  E.  Eogers,  M.  D.; 
1867-1871,  Eliab  Ward,  M.  D.,  Eene  La  Eoche,  M.  D.,  James  A. 
McCrea,  M.  D.,  and  Thomas  Stewardson,  M.  D.;  1871-1873,  James  A. 
McCrea,  M.  D.,  Eene  La  Eoche,  M.  D.,  Thos.  Stewardson,  M.  D.,  and 
William  IT.  Ford,  M.  D.;  1873-1874,  James  A.  McCrea,  M.  D.,  Wil- 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

: i r r i  II.  Ford,  M.  l>.,  0.  P.  Lfl  Roche,  M.  l>.,  and  Samuel  Ajshha 
M.  I).;  L874-1879,  James  A.  BicCrea,  .M.  D.,  William  II.  Ford,  &L  D., 
and  Samuel  Ashhurst,  M.  I>.;  L879-1880,  William  II.  Ford,  M.  I »., 
James  A.  McCrea,  M.  I).,  Richard  A.  Cleemann,  .M.  I).,  and  Samuel 
Aslilmrst,  .M.  D.;  L880-1881,  William   II.  Ford,  M.  D.,  Richard  A. 

leemann,  .M.  D.,  and  Samuel  Ashhurst,  .M.  D.;  L881-1882,  Samuel 
\siiiniisi.  M.  D.,  Jos.  <i.  Richardson,  M.  D.,  and  Richard  A.  Olee- 
nuuiii.  Ml.  D.;  1882-1887,  William  II.  Ford,  M.  D.,  Richard  A.  Clee- 
mann, If.  I ».,  and  Jos.  <:.  Richardson,  M.  D.;  L887-1889,  William  II. 
Ford,  M.  D.;  L889-1897,  William  II.  Kurd,  M.  I >..  and  Peter  D.  Key- 
ser,  M.  D.;  and  tin-  presenl  members,  William  II.  Ford,  If.  I  >..  and 

James  W.  Walk,  M.  D. 

The  evenl  which  ma.\  be  said  to  have  closed  this  period,  and 
opened  another,  had  its  rise  in  a  meeting  <»f  the  County  Medical 
Society  in  October,  1872,  when  Dr.  J.  < ..  Stetler  introduced  a  re 
lution,  proposing  a  meeting  of  the  various  medical  societies  and 
colleges  in  the  city  to  consider  what  part  should  be  taken  by  tin- 
Medical  Profession  of  Philadelphia  in  the  approaching  celebration 
of  the  national  centennial  anniversary  of  1876.  "The  form  which 
the  proposed  celebration  should  assume,"  writes  Dr.  James  H. 
Hutchinson,  "had  not,  however,  been  fully  agreed  upon,  and  the  time 
at  which  it  was  to  take  place  was  still  far  off  in  the  future.  More- 
over, its  advocates  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  convincing  our  people 
that  it  was  destined  to  be  one  of  the  great  events  in  our  history." 
In  consequence,  it  was  not  until  January,  1S74,  that  the  County 
Society  was  persuaded  to  consider  the  matter  by  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  for  that  purpose,  composed  of  Drs.  L.  Turnbull,  J.  G. 
Stetler  and  Iff.  O'Hara.  The  result  was  a  report,  proposing  a  con- 
gress, to  begin  its  sessions  on  National  Day  in  ls7«i.  This  commit- 
tee at  once  took  measures  to  enlarge  itself  so  as  to  make  it  com- 
pletely representative,  and  with  such  success  that  it  was  organ- 
ized on  March  29,  1875,  with  Samuel  D.  dross,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  D.  G  I.. 
Oxon.,  as  president :  Alfred  Stille",  M.  D., LL.  D.,  and  W.S.  W.  Rusch- 
enberger,  M.  D.,  U.  S.  X.,  as  vice-presidents;  Caspar  Wistar,  M.  D., 
as  treasurer;  William  B.  Atkinson,  M.  D.,  as  recording  secretary; 
Richard  J.  Dunglison,  M.  1)..  as  foreign  secretary,  and  Daniel  G. 


308  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Brinton,  M.  D.,  as  home  secretary.  This  body  bore  the  title,  the 
"Centennial  Medical  Commission  of  Philadelphia,"  and  after  secur- 
ing the  aid  of  every  medical  body  in  the  city,  it  proceeded  to  make 
plans  for  a  thoroughly  representative  International  Medical  Con- 
gress, independent,  however,  of  the  body  generally  known  under 
that  name.  It  proposed  to  make  it  commemorative  of  American 
medicine  by  having  the  mornings  devoted  to  the  following  ad- 
dresses: 1.  Medicine  and  Medical  Progress,  by  Dr.  Austin  Flint 
of  New  York;  2.  Surgery,  by  Dr.  Paul  F.  Eve  of  Tennessee;  3.  Obstet- 
rics, by  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin  of  Indiana;  4.  Therapeutics,  by  Dr. 
Alfred  Stille  of  Pennsylvania  (declined) ;  5.  Medical  Jurisprudence, 
by  Dr.  Stanford  E.  Chaille  of  Louisiana;  6.  Medical  Biography,  by 
Dr.  J.  M.  Toner  of  the  District  of  Columbia;  7.  Medical  Institutions 
and  Education,  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  of  Illinois;  8.  Medical  Litera- 
ture, by  Dr.  L.  P.  Yandell  of  Kentucky;  9.  Hygiene  and  Social 
Science,  by  Dr.  H.  I.  Bowditch,  of  Massachusetts;  10.  Medical 
Hygiene,  by  Dr.  John  P.  Gray  of  New  York;  and  Medical  Chem- 
istry, by  Dr.  Theo.  G.  Worniley  of  Ohio.  For  the  afternoons  there 
were  to  be  scientific  discussions,  distributed  among  nine  sections: 
1.  Medicine;  2.  Biology;  3.  Surgery;  4.  Dermatology  and  Syphilog- 
raphy;  5.  Obstetrics;  6.  Ophthalmology;  7.  Otology;  8.  Sanitary 
Science,  and  9.  Mental  Diseases. 

The  committee  was  still  further  enlarged,  and  its  work  executed 
by  a  smaller  representative  conference  of  delegates  from  all  socie- 
ties in  the  city;  and  two  more  secretaries  were  chosen,  Drs.  William 
Goodell  and  Kobert  M.  Bertolet.  The  plans  having  been  so  fully 
made,  it  was  decided  to  put  their  execution  into  the  hands  of  four 
committees :  1.  On  Arrangements  were  Drs.  D.  S.  Gross,  chairman, 
Edward  Hartshome,  Washington  L.  Atlee,  Albert  Fricke,  Law- 
rence Turnbull,  W.  W.  Keen,  I.  Minis  Hays,  J.  Soils  Cohen,  N.  L. 
Hatfield,  A.  K.  Minich,  Thomas  G.  Morton,  George  Strawbridge, 
William  Goodell,  John  S.  Parry,  E.  G.  Curtin,  John  H.  Packard, 
James  H.  Hutchinson,  Louis  A.  Duhring,  Alfred  Stille,  William 
Thompson  and  Daniel  G.  Brinton,  W.  B.  Atkinson  acting  as  secre- 
tary; 2.  On  Finance,  Drs.  Caspar  Wistar,  H.  Lenox  Hodge,  Levi 
Curtis,  Thomas  G.  Morton,  T.  Hewson  Backe,  Albert  H.  Smith, 


IX  PHILADELPHIA. 

James  Tyson  and  Charles  Burnett;  3.  An  [nternational  Executive 
Committee)  and  1.  A  Committee  on  Invitation.  An  effort  was  then 
made  to  induce  the  [nternational  Medical  Congress  proper,  which 
met  in  Brussels  in  L875,  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  the  next  year. 
While  not  accepting  this  proposition,  the  Congress  did  adjourn  for 
two  years  in  order  to  allow  its  members  to  join  the  movement  al- 
ready  begun.  Ii  was  proposed,  too,  that  the  committee  should  con- 
vene the  Congress  and  then  thai,  i ha i  body  should  conduct  its  own 
business. 

The  Congress  assembled  on  Monday.  September  4.  Is7»;,  at 
noon,  in  the  chapel  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr.  Gross, 
alter  prayer  by  Bishop  Stevens,  called  Dr.  Etuschenberger  to  the 
chair,  and  read  an  address  of  •welcome.  "In  its  wide  range,"  said 
lie,  "the  present  ( ongress  is  without  a  parallel.  Similar  bodies  have 
repeatedly  met,  but  none  on  so  grand  a  scale,  or  with  such  a  cos- 
mopolitan outlook.  .  .  .  The  science  of  medicine  has  been  com- 
pletely revolutionized,  and  within  our  day.  .  .  .  The  microscope, 
chemical  analysis,  clinical  observation  and  experiment  upon  infe- 
rior animals  are  leading  the  medical  mind  with  wondrous  velocity 
in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  are  daily  adding  new  facts  to  our 
stock  of  information  far  beyond  what  the  wildest  fancy  could  have 
conceived,  even  a  third  of  a  century  ago.  .  .  .  Hippocratic  medi- 
cine is  the  order  of  the  day.  Everything  bows  before  its  divine 
behests."  Dr.  Gross  then  appointed  a  committee  on  nominations, 
ami  Dr.  Flint  delivered  his  address  on  Medicine  and  Medical  Prog- 
ress  in  the  United  States.  "At  the  time,"  says  lie,  "to  which  our 
survey  of  the  history  of  medicine  has  extended,  Philadelphia 
was  the  acknowledged  seat  of  medical  education.  This  preemi- 
nence she  has  held  from  that  time  to  the  present.  In  the  number 
of  medical  men  who  have  been  educated  at  her  schools,  in  the  great 
preponderance  of  her  medical  literature,  and  in  her  large  propor- 
tion of  the  distinguished  representatives  of  the  different  depart- 
ments of  medicine,  she  has  had  no  compeer  in  the  new  world.  To 
the  influence  of  her  example  is  to  be  attributed  much  of  the  activity 
of  progress  in  other  cities  of  the  Union.  If.  in  future,  she  should 
cease  to  preserve  the  relative  position  which  she  now  deservedly 


310  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

holds,  it  will  be,  in  no  small  measure,  from  the  spirit  of  honorable 
emulation  awakened  and  sustained  by  her  admirable  example.  In 
saying  what  I  have  said,  I  feel  that  I  may  assume  to  speak  in  behalf 
of  the  medical  profession  of  the  United  Sates.  It  was  most  fitting 
that  an  International  Medical  Congress,  in  celebration  of  our  cen- 
tennial anniversary,  should  assemble  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia."" 
The  report  on  nominations  was  unanimously  adopted  and  Dr.  Gross 
was  made  president.  The  other  Philadelphians  chosen  as  officers 
were:  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  as  treasurer;  Dr.  I.  Minis  Hays,  as  sec- 
retary-general, with  Drs.  W.  B.  Atkinson,  Richard  J.  Dunglison, 
Richard  A.  Cleemann,  W.  W.  Keen  and  R.  M.  Bertolet  as  secretaries 
of  the  meeting.  Philadelphians,  as  officers  of  sections,  were:  1. 
Medicine,  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  president,  and  J.  Ewing  Mears  as  secre- 
tary; 2.  Biology,  Dr.  James  Tyson,  secretary;  3.  Surgery,  Drs. 
John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  as  a  vice-president,  and  John  H.  Packard,  as 
secretary;  1.  Dermatology  and  Syphilography,  Drs.  Edward  Ship- 
pen,  U.  S.  N.,  as  a  vice-president,  and  Arthur  Van  Harlingen,  as 
secretary;  5.  On  Obstetrics,  Dr.  William  Goodell,  as  secretary; 

6.  On  Ophthalmology,  Dr.  William  Thompson,  as  a  vice-president : 

7.  On  Mental  Diseases,  Dr.  Isaac  Ray,  as  a  vice-president.  On  the 
second  day,  the  Committee  on  Publication  was  chosen — all  Philadel- 
phians :  Dr.  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  chairman,  Dr.  R.  J.  Dunglison,  Dr. 
William  Goodell,  Dr.  James  H.  Hutchinson  and  Dr.  Caspar  Wis- 
tar. Dr.  Bowditch  also  delivered  his  address  on  Hygiene  and  Pre- 
ventive Medicine,  in  which  he  divided  the  century  into  periods: — 
1776-1832,  the  era  of  dogmatism,  giving  prominence  to  Benjamin 
Rush;  1832  to  "69,  of  observation,  led  by  Gerhard  and  others;  1869, 
and  subsequently  the  era  of  preventive  medicine,  Massachusetts 
leading  with  the  first  state  board  of  health — an  address  that  was 
really  a  powerful  plea  for  state  boards  of  health,  and  no  doubt  had 
great  influence  in  bringing  other  states  into  line  on  that  subject. 
He  also  referred  to  the  national  quarantine  conventions,  the  first 
of  which  was  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1857.  After  his  address,  came 
that  of  Dr.  Wormley  on  Medical  Chemistry  and  Toxicology,  in 
which  he  mentioned  Priestly,  at  one  time  a  Pennsylvanian,  as  the 
father  of  Chemistry,  in  his  discovery  of  oxygen;  and  Benjamin  Rush 


i\    run.  ^DELPHI  \.  311 

;is  the  first  American  professor  of  that  subject  in  the  oldest  medi- 
cal Bchool;  Dr.  John  Redman  Ooxe,  too,  was  mentioned,  as  con- 
tributing, "perhaps,  more  than  any  other,  to  the  progress  oi  medical 
chemistry  in  the  United  States/5  especially  in  measures  thai  led  to 
the  first  College  of  Pharmacy,  that  <>f  Philadelphia;  in-  referred  to 
Drs.  Jackson,  Wood,  Bache,  the  Mitchells,  notably  Dr.  s.  Weir 
Mitchell,  and  others  who  have  made  the  <  ii\  so  great  a  center  «»f 
chemistry.  The  sect  ions  also  began  i  heir  work,  which  is,  of  course, 
too  voluminous  for  notice. 

On  the  third  day,  three  hundred  and  eighty-two  had  regis- 
tered. Dr.  Eve  gave  Ids  address  on  Surgery,  speaking  of  Physick 
as  the  "Father  of  American  Surgery;"  and  of  others  who  had  fol- 
lowed him.  Dr.  Toner's  address  on  Medical  Biography  was  given 
also,  in  which  nine  names  out  of  eighteen,  chosen  for  spe- 
cial mention,  were  Philadelphians.  Dr.  Parvin's  address  on 
Obstetrics  came  on  the  fourth  day.  He  spoke  of  Shippen  as  one 
of  the  first  two  American  leaders  in  this  subject,  and  of 
their  instruction  in  London;  he  referred  as  well  to  Dr.  T.  C. 
.Tames,  the  first  professor  of  Obstetrics,  and  to  Dewees,  whom  he 
would  call  "the  father  of  Obstetrics  in  America,"  and  whose 
name  "should  live  forever  in  the  memory  of  the  American  pro- 
fession." Dr.  C.  D.  Meigs  was  also  given  due  honor,  as  well  as 
Dr.  Hodge.  Dr.  < 'bailie's  address  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  also 
came  on  the  fourth  day.  On  the  fifth  day  were  given  those  of  l>r. 
Gray  and  Dr.  Yandell,  the  latter  being  on  Medical  Literature,  and 
devoted  chiefly  to  the  contributions  of  Philadelphians.  "In  the 
century,"  said  he,  "thathas  passed  away  since  Bush  appeared  as  an 
author,  no  one  of  all  the  medical  writers  of  America  has  attained 
to  the  popularity  which  he  enjoyed,  nor  exerted  so  wide  and  Lasting 
an  influence  on  the  professional  mind  of  his  country."  and  but  a 
glance  at  the  names  he  mentions  in  his  pages  shows  the  vast  pre- 
ponderance of  those  of  Philadelphia,  the  greatest  medical  center 
in  the  first  century  of  American  medical  history.  On  the  sixth  day 
the  session  was  (dosed  with  an  address  by  t  he  founder  of  I  he  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  1  >r.  X.  s.  Davis  of  Chicago,  who  surveyed 
the  progress  of  American  medical  education,  in  which  Philadelphia 


312  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

had  displayed  even  more  activity  than  in  other  lines  of  medical 
work,  from  the  organization  of  the  first  medical  school  to  the  days 
of  the  greatest  number  of  medical  students.  He  referred  also  to 
the  higher  standards  of  the  present  day,  the  longer  and  graded 
courses  and  the  increased  clinical  advantages.  In  detailing  the 
foundation  of  the  Medical  School  of  the  University,  he  said:  "We 
have  thus  sketched  briefly  the  progress  of  medical  instruction  from 
its  incipient  beginning  in  Philadelphia  to  the  complete  establish- 
ment of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  by  the  formal  election 
of  the  faculty  above  named,  in  January,  1792,  not  merely  because 
it  is  the  pioneer  school,  and  one  which  still  continues  to  exercise 
an  important  influence  over  the  educational  interests  of  our  profes- 
sion, but  because  it  has  served  as  the  type  or  pattern  for  nearly  all 
the  medical  schools  subsequently  organized  in  this  country.''  The 
day  and  the  Congress  closed.  "The  International  Medical  Congress 
of  1876,"  said  President  Gross,  "is  about  to  pass  into  history  as  a 
thing  of  the  past;  but,  although  its  exercises  are  at  an  end,  its  work 
will  live  and  form  an  interesting  era  in  our  profession  as  marking 
the  reunion  of  a  great  body  of  men  in  the  centennial  year  of  Ameri- 
can independence." 


CHAPTEB  V. 

THE    RECENT    PERIOD. —  [876    TO     [897. 

The  current,  period  in  history  is,  as  a  whole,  too  Dear  to  ever 
give  assurance  that  its  perspective  has  been  adequately  appre- 
ciated. Its  personages  of  influence  are  always,  or  at  least  with 
rare  exceptions,  still  living;  and  the  movements  that  characterize 
it  are,  for  the  most  part,  in  process  of  making.  In  the  history  of 
medicine  in  Philadelphia  the  situation  is  all  the  more  difficult 
to  depict,  inasmuch  as  the  development,  since  1S~<>,  and  particu- 
larly in  the  last,  decade,  has  been  so  rapid  and  many-sided  that 
<ven  outlines  are  uncertain  and  exact  detail  impossible.  He- 
roic an  attempt  at  either  is  made  a  glance  at  some  comparisons 
may  enable  us  to  make  the  rapidity  of  this  development  more 
manifest. 

At  the  end  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  after  the  first 
notice  of  a  medical  man  in  this  territory,  there  were  <>(><>  physicians 
in  Philadelphia.  This  was  in  1868,  when  the  population  of  the  citj 
was  close  to  674,000,  the  figures  given  by  the  census  of  two  years 
later,  making  something  less  than  one  physician  to  a  thousand 
inhabitants,  a  very  considerable  increase  over  the  proportion  of  a 
half  century  before.  Since  that  date  the  population  has  scarcely 
doubled,  but  the  number  of  physicians  has  more  than  quadrupled, 
and  even  the  regular  practitioners  alone  more  than  treble  the  num- 
bers of  1868.  The  number  of  the  latter  is  given  in  the  .current 
directories  at  2,061,  while  adherents  of  other  medical  schools  are 

distributed  as  follows:  405  Homeopaths,  IT  Eclectics  and  30  irreg- 
ular practitioners.  The  manager  of  a  prominent  directory  estimates 
conservatively  that  Philadelphia,  in  1S!>7.  contained  2,600  practic- 
ing physicians  of  all  classes.     The  number  had  reached  L,215  in 

313 


314  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

1884-85  (a),  and  2,484  in  1895,  so  that  the  two  decades  after  the 
Centennial  are  seen  to  be  remarkable  for  the  increase  of  the  medi- 
cal population.  It  is  notable,  too,  that  the  students  of  regular 
medicine  are  more  than  five  to  one  in  proportion  to  the  adherents 
of  homeopathy,  while  other  schools  have  no  following  worth  men- 
tioning. These  numbers  show  Philadelphia  overwhelmingly  con- 
servative in  the  character  of  its  medical  constituents,  as  compared 
with  other  great  cities.  This  is  even  more  true  of  the  students 
found  in  its  medical  schools,  for  while  the  regulars  have  five  great 
medical  institutions,  the  University,  Jefferson,  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gical,  the  Polyclinic  and  the  Woman's  Medical  College  (the  first- 
mentioned  alone  having  926  students),  the  only  non-regular  school 
is  that  of  homeopathy — Hahnemann  Medical  College,  with  an 
attendance  of  258,  less  than  one-third  of  the  number  at  the  Univer- 
sity alone,  not  to  speak  of  the  grand  total  in  this  comparison.  Thus 
the  great  development  of  the  period  is  primarily  that  of  regular 
medicine. 

As  to  societies,  in  1868,  there  were  in  existence  the  College  of 
Physicians,  which  came  down  from  the  period  of  the  Revolution; 
the  County  Medical  Society,  Northern  Medical  Association,  and  the 
Pathological  Society  from  the  third  period;  and  the  Union  Medical 
Association,  the  Microscopical  Society,  the  Southern  Medical 
Society  and  the  Obstetrical  Society,  organized  within  the  previous 
three  years.     The  rest  have  been  organized  since  (b). 

As  to  hospitals,  in  1868,  there  were  thirteen,  not  including 
those  for  the  insane,  or  private  hospitals  and  sanitaria.  These 
were  the  the  Pennsylvania  and  Philadelphia,  from  the  period  of 
the  Revolution;  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  the  Wills,  St.  Joseph,  the 
Municipal,  the  Children's  and  the  Preston  Retreat,  from  the  third 
period  (although  the  Municipal,  in  other  forms,  dates  back  farther); 
and  the  Charity,  the  German,  the  Jewish,  St.  Mary's  and  the  Ortho- 
fa)  In  one  directory  of  1884,  after  the  regular  and  homeopathist  names,  87 
others  are  given,  with  the  note  that  they  are  from  the  schools  of  that  date  which 
were  attacked  in  the  bogus  diploma  war;  and  that  HO  more  were  without  diplomas, 
practicing  under  a  sanction  of  the  law. 

(b)    The  Medieo-Cbirurgieal  College  had  an  uncertain  existence  as  a  society 
for  many  years  also,  before  it  became  a  college  proper. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

ptedic  in  the  civil  war  period;  the  rest  of  the  hospitals  baying  sinei 

been  established. 

There  were  only  six  dispensaries  in  1868;  the  Philadelphia 
1786,  the  Northern  and  Southern,  both  of  L817;  the  Lying-in  Char- 
ity <»f  1828;  one  at  the  Boward  Sospital,  and  th<-  Society  for  Bm- 
ploymenl  of  Hie  Poor,  both  of  L853. 

These  facts  serve  to  shew  what  a  large  pari  of  ih«-  marvelous 
growth  of  the  present  day  has  come  in  the  last  thirty  years;  far  the 
greater  bulk -of  it  since  1876,  the  year  of  the  International  Medical 
Congress,  the  period  new  under  consideration.  The  chief  develop- 
ments of  the  present  period  naturally  group  themselves  about  tie- 
colleges,  the  societies,  and  the  hospitals  of  the  city,  and  may  l>« 
considered  in  that  order. 

Philadelphia  again  became  as  great  a  student  center  as  it  was 
before  the  war,  and  Jefferson  reached  her  old-time  number  of  1854 
when  sheenrolled  630  in  1881-82.  Southern  students  no  longer  con- 
stituted the  majority  in  the  classes  of  either  Jefferson  or  tin- 
University.  The  former  made  gains  from  the  West  and  the  latter 
still  greater  gains  from  Pennsylvania,  while  in  recent  years  the 
University  has  gained  marvelously  from  the  entire  land.  P»\  I>7«'. 
the  most  radical  changes  had  been  made  in  the  University.  The 
old  site  on  Ninth  street  was  deserted  for  the  splendid  grounds  now 
so  well  known,  in  West  Philadelphia.  The  Arts  Department  Mas 
moved  in  1872-73;  the  Medical  Department  in  1873-74;  and  the 
New  University  Hospital  was  ready  in  1874-75,  which,  with  the 
Philadelphia  Hospital  near  at  hand,  gave  the  long  desired  clinical 
advantages  within  easy  access.  In  1865  the  auxiliary  summer 
faculty  had  been  established  and  in  1*71-72  daily  clinical  lectures 
had  been  begun  with  a  list  of  clinical  lecturers  embracing  I>rs. 
Agnew,  Pepper,  Tyson,  Goodell,  Allen,  Strawbridge,  Norris  and 
Garretson.  These  vigorous  measures  begun  to  tell  effectively  on 
the  attendance,  the  number  of  students  in  1S7<>  being  476,  as  against 
310  in  '70-71,  the  lowest  number  recorded  since  1861.  In  is7«'»  the 
faculty  consisted  of  l>rs.  Wood  and  the  two  Smiths  on  the  Emeritus 
list;  Drs.  Leidy,  Penrose,  Stille  and  Agnew.  and  the  newly  elected 
professors,  Dr.  Horatio  C.  Wood  to  succeed  Dr.  Carson;  Dr.  John 


510  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Neill  in  Clinical  Surgery;  Dr.  William  Pepper,  the  younger,  in 
Clinical  Medicine,  and  Theory  and  Practice;  Dr.  William  Goodell 
in  Clinical  Obstetrics;  and  Dr.  James  Tyson  in  General  Pathology 
.and  Anatomy.  The  auxiliary  faculty  was  also  increased,  Dr.  S.  B. 
HoAvell  having  been  added  the  year  before,  and  Drs.  J.  T.  Eothrock 
.and  H.  B.  Hare,  in  the  year  1876-77.  The  entire  University,  and 
notably  the  medical  department,  was  entering  upon  modern  scien- 
tific University  methods  and  the  latter  announced  the  inauguration 
of  a  three  years'  course  for  the  ensuing  year.  In  1877-78  the  chair 
of  Chemistry  was  filled  by  Dr.  Theodore  G.  Wormley.  Dr.  Neill  the 
same  year  was  made  professor  emeritus,  Dr.  John  Ashhurst,  Jr., 
succeeding  to  his  chair.  Dr.  J.  G.  Bichardson  was  added  to  the 
-auxiliary  faculty  and  there  began  to  be  formed  the  long  list  of 
lecturers,  instructors,  demonstrators,  and  assistants  necessitated 
by  the  new  clinical  and  laboratory  methods  which  were  instituted 
from  time  to  time.  Post-graduate  work  was  begun,  and  many  of 
the  features  established  that  characterize  the  present  work  of  the 
University.  Indeed  these  years  were  a  period  of  revolution  in  the 
methods  of  the  medical  school,  in  which  foundations  were  laid  for 
the  remarkable  development  of  recent  years. 

Of  the  new  members  of  the  regular  faculty  not  now  living,  were 
Drs.  Neill  and  Wormley,  one  from  Philadelphia  and  the  other  from 
Ohio.  Dr.  John  Neill  Avas  of  an  old  Philadelphia  family  of  Ulster 
Irish  ancestry.  His  father,  Dr.  Henry  Neill,  married  Martha  Duf- 
field,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Duffield  and  a  relative  of  Dr. 
Jonathan  Potts,  both  familiar  names  of  the  period  of  the  Bevolu- 
don;  so  it  will  be  seen  that  he  came  of  a  distinctively  medical 
line.  Born  in  this  city  in  1S19,  he  entered  the  University  by 
-special  permission  because  he  was  a  year  under  the  regulation  age. 
He  graduated  in  1837  and  at  once  entered  the  medical  department, 
from  which  he  received  his  degree  in  1810  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 
He  then  spent  two  years  in  Wills  Hospital  and  was  resident  in 
the  Philadelphia  Hospital  for  a  time.  After  a  professional  voyage 
to  the  West  Indies,  he  began  practice  in  Philadelphia  in  1842.  He 
began  giving  private  medical  instruction  at  once  and  was  made 
assistant  to  Professors  Horner  and  Gibson,  and  in  1815  became 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  31? 

♦lei  n  on  strut  or  of  anatomy,  in  this  position  he  was  remarkably  sue- 
cessful,  and  a  few  years  Later  be  joined  Drs.  Reese,  Benedict  and 
Frazier  in  reviving  the  old  Medical  [nstitute.  Dr.  Neil!  became 
a  prominent  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  did  distin- 
guished service  in  the  cholera  epidemic  of  L849,  in  both  a  practical 
and  scientific  way.  In  1  n.~» i  he  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Surgerj 
in  tin-  .Medical  Department  of  Pennsylvania  College,  then  on  Ninth 
near  Spruce  street,  and  also  served  on  the  staffs  of  the  Leading 
hospitals.  At  the  fall  of  Fmt  Sn  inter  he  was  tin*  first  to  make  efforts 
to  secure  a  military  hospital  by  converting  Moyamensing  Hall  on 
Christian  street  into  one,  and  telegraphed  to  the  Surgeon-General 
of  the  army  for  authority  to  establish  it  as  a  branch  of  the  United 
States  army.  This  was  so  timely  for  service  after  Bull  Run  thai 
he  was  given  charge  of  the  establishment  of  hospitals  and  hospital 
arrangements  for  some  time  to  come  and  was  finally  placed  at  tin- 
head  of  Broad  Street  Central  Hospital.  All  of  his  work  previous  1 1 » 
18G2  was  that  of  a  contract  surgeon,  but  in  the  latter  year  he  was 
made  Surgeon  of  Volunteers.  In  1863,  on  the  invasion  of  the  si  a  te 
by  Lee,  he  was  made  medical  director  of  the  state  forces,  and  per- 
formed such  able  service  that  he  received  the  brevet  of  Lieu  ten  a  nt  - 
Colonel.  He  became  Post-Surgeon  after  the  war,  and  was  asso- 
ciated with  the  founding  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital.  It  was  in 
1874  that  he  was  called  to  the  new  chair  of  Clinical  Surgery  in  the 
University,  where  he  was  distinguishing  himself  as  a  lecturer,  when. 
after  one  course,  disease  compelled  his  transfer  to  the  Emeritus  list . 
and  his  death  followed  a  few  years  later,  in  1880,  at  the  age  of 
nearly  sixty-one  years.  "He  was,''  says  Dr.  Edward  Shippen,  "a 
man  of  catholic  mind — ever  interested  in  literature,  art,  politics 
and  the  social  topics  of  the  day.  He  was  a  ready  and  pleasing 
writer,  his  style  being  remarkable  for  its  curt,  incisive  sentences, 
divested  of  all  redundancy  or  verbiage.  With  great  power  of  con- 
centration upon  the  subject  of  inquiry  or  interest  at  the  moment 
before  him,  he  was  always  true  to  his  profession,  giving  it  tin-  first 
place.  Although  a  conscientious  and  successful  general  prac- 
titioner, he  was  especially  a  surgeon,  of  surpassing  skill  in  diag- 
nosis and  ability  in  operation.     He  loved  his  profession  for  itself. 


318  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

and  found  high  compensation  in  the  consciousness  that  he  had 
devoted  to  its  pursuit  all  the  energy  and  ability  which  he  possessed. 
....  Dr.  Neill's  most  striking  characteristics  were  quickness 
of  apprehension,  intensity  of  application  and  perseverance  in  exe- 
cution. Of  these,  perhaps,  the  most  prominent  was  his  intensity; 
whatever  he  found  to  do  he  did  with  all  his  might." 

Dr.  Theodore  G.  Wormley,  who  came  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry 
in  1877,  was  a  native  of  Cumberland  County,  Pennsylvania,  but  had 
made  his  reputation  in  Ohio.  He  was  born  in  1826,  of  an  old  Ger- 
man-American family,  and  was  educated  in  Dickinson  College,  at 
Carlisle.  Here  he  came  under  the  influence  of  President  Allen  of 
Girard  College,  then  a  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Dickinson,  and  also 
accompanied  Spencer  Baird,  afterward  of  the  Smithsonian  Institu- 
tion, on  scientific  tours.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  Carlisle, 
and  finally  graduated  from  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine 
in  1849.  After  a  year  in  Carlisle,  he  settled  in  practice  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  in  1850,  and  two  years  later  became  Professor  of  Chemistry  in 
the  University  there.  From  1854,  he  also  held  the  chair  of  Chemis- 
try in  Starling  Medical  College,  and  it  was  while  occupying  that 
position  that  he  delivered  his  address  on  the  History  of  Chemistry 
in  America  before  the  Centennial  Medical  Congress  of  1876.  The 
following  year,  in  June,  he  was  called  to  succeed  Dr.  Kogers  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  as  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Toxi- 
cology. He  had  then  just  passed  his  fiftieth  year.  He  had  made  an 
eminent  name  in  his  chosen  science  and  received  many  honorary 
degrees,  among  them  being  that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Marietta 
College.  He  was  a  member  of  many  societies,  and  was  an  acknowl- 
edged expert  of  national  and  international  reputation  in  toxicology. 
His  greatest  work,  "Micro-Chemistry  of  Poisons,"  is  a  standard 
throughout  the  world,  and  owes  its  excellent  illustrations  to  his 
wife,  who  learned  the  art  of  engraving  on  steel  especially  for  the 
purpose  of  illustrating  her  husband's  book.  "He  was  eminent  in 
toxicology,"  said  a  colleague  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  "which 
science  he  made  his  special  department  of  study.  He  was  a  most 
capable  teacher,  and  possessed,  to  a  wonderful  degree,  the  faculty 
of  imparting  knowledge  to  students.    Personally,  he  was  a  modest, 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  319 

unassuming  man,  rery  much  liked  by  all  who  knew  him.  ii<-  pos 
sessed,  to  :i  remarkable  degree,  that  regard  for  truth  and  that 
humility  of  mind  which  are  the  basis  of  the  true  scientific  mind. 
1  >r.  Wbrmley's  knowledge  of  poisons  n;ii  urally  made  him  a  Leading 
witness  in  many  famous  cases  of  medical  jurisprudence,  and  In  all 
such  cases  his  minute  and  deep  knowledge  was  displayed  to  full 
advantage,  and  his  devotion  to  truth  for  t  rut  h's  sake  shown  in  every 
way."  Dr.  Wormley  died  in  1897,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one,  having, 
with  the  aid  of  an  assistant,  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  chair  for 
twenty  years  after  his  first  introduction  to  it  in  1877.  The  faculty, 
then,  in  1877-8,  consisted  of  Drs.  Leidy,  Penrose,  Stille",  Agnew, 
Wood,  Pepper,  Ooodell,  Tyson,  Wormley  and  Ash  hurst,  not  to  men- 
tion those  who  were  emeritus  professors,  or  those  of  the  subor- 
dinate auxiliary  faculties.  To  these,  in  1878-9,  were  added  Dr.  liar 
rison  Allen,  for  Physiology,  and  the  men  having  charge  of  the  sum- 
mer course:  Drs.  Allen,  Reese,  Howell,  Rothrock  and  Richardson. 
Dr.  A.  J.  Parker  was  added  to  the  summer  faculty  in  1882-3.  No 
other  additions  were  made  until  1883-4,  when  Drs.  W.  P.  Norris, 
George  Strawbridge  and  Louis  A.  Duhring  were  made  clinical  pro- 
fessors, Dr.  Wood  also  adding  clinical  teaching  to  his  didactic  work. 
The  next  year  Dr.  Louis  Starr  became  a  clinical  professor,  and  Dr. 
William  Osier  was  made  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine.  Dr.  Allen 
was  made  Emeritus  Professor  in  1885-6,  and  Dr.  Edward  T.  Reicherl 
succeeded  him,  though  not  formally  until  a  year  later,  when  Dr.  J. 
William  White  became  a  Clinical  Professor  in  Surgery.  In  1887-8, 
Dr.  Norris  became  Honorary  Professor  of  Ophthalmology,  and  the 
next  year  Drs.  Barton  C.  Hirst  and  Howard  A.  Kelly  became  asso- 
ciates in  the  chair  of  Obstetrics.  In  1889-90,  Dr.  Tyson  succeeded 
Dr.  Osier,  and  1  >r.  John  Guiteras  followed  Dr.  Tyson.  Dr,  .1. 
William  White  became  full  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery,  and  Dr. 
Ashhurst  succeeded  Dr.  Agnew,  who  was  made  Professor  Emeritus. 
Dr.  George  A.  Piersol  became  Professor  of  Histology  and  Embry- 
ology, Dr.  S.  (1.  Dixon  of  Hygiene,  Dr.  John  Marshall  assistant  to 
Dr.  Wormley,  and  Dr.  Do  Forest  Willard  was  made  a  clinical  pro- 
fessor, as  were  Dr.  Hobart  A.  Hare  and  Dr.  B.  A.  Randall,  the  fol- 
lowing year.     By  this  time  t ho  developments  in    the    Oniversitv 


320  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

began  to  show  marked  results  in  the  attendance,  there  being  5S2 
students  for  the  year  1S90-91.  This  was  increased  to  693  and  S47 
for  the  next  two  years,  and  the  current  year  enrolls  the  astonish- 
ing number  of  926  matriculates.  In  1S91-2,  Dr.  Duhring  was  given 
the  chair  of  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  and  Dr.  John  S.  Billings  took  the 
place  vacated  by  Dr.  Dixon.  Drs.  J.  P.  C.  Griffith  and  Edward  Mar- 
tin were  made  clinical  professors,  and  Dr.  John  H.  Musser  and  John 
B.  Deaver  associates  to  Clinical  Medicine  and  Applied  Anatomy, 
respectively.  In  1893-4,  Dr.  William  Goodell  was  made  honorary 
professor,  and  Dr.  Charles  B.  Penrose  succeeded  to  his  duties.  Dr. 
Charles  K.  Mills  was  elected  Professor  of  Mental  Diseases.  In  1893 
the  course  was  extended  to  four  years.  Dr.  William  Pepper,  then 
Provost  of  the  University,  had  been  intimately  identified  with  all 
the  advances  in  medical  teaching  since  the  founding  of  the  Uni- 
versity Hospital  in  1874.  The  Dental  Department  was  established 
in  1878,  the  Department  of  Veterinary  Medicine  in  1884,  the  Veter- 
inary Hospital  in  1885,  and  the  Laboratory  of  Hygiene  and  the 
Wistar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology  in  1892. 

The  present  faculty  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity embraces  the  following:  Alfred  Stills,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Emeri- 
tus Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical 
Medicine;  Richard  A.  F.  Penrose,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor 
of  Obstetrics  and  the  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children;  William 
Pepper,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine and  Clinical  Medicine;  James  Tyson,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clin- 
ical Medicine;  Horatio  C.  Wood,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica,  Pharmacy  and  General  Therapeutics;  John  Marshall,  M.  D.r 
Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology;  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  M.  D., 
LL.  D.,  John  Rhea  Barton  Professor  of  Surgery  and  Professor  of 
Clinical  Surgery;  Edward  T.  Reichert,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physi- 
ology; William  F.  Norris,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology;  Bar- 
ton Cooke  Hirst,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  J.  William  White, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery;  John  Guiteras,  M.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  General  Pathology  and  Morbid  Anatomy;  George  A.  Pier- 
sol,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  John  Marshall,  M.  D.,  Nat.  Sc.  D., 
Assistant  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Dean  of  the  Faculty;  Louis 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  '121 

A.  Duhring,  M.  I>..  Professor  of  Skin  Diseases;  Charles  B.  Penrose, 
M.  I  >.,  I'll.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology;  and  Alexander  C.  Vbbott, 
M.  I  >.,  Pepper  Professor  of  Hygiene.  The  clinical  professors  are: 
William  F.  Norris,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Ej  e; 
Boratio  C.  Wood,  M.  I  >.,  LL.  1  >..  ( Jlinical  Professor  of  Nervous  Dis- 
eases; Louis  A.  Duhring,  .M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Skin  Diseae 
De  Forest  Willard,  M.D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery; 

B.  Alexander  Randall,  -M.  !>.,  clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the 
Ear;  J.  P.  Crozer  Griffith,  .M.  !>..  clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of 
Children;  and  Edward  Martin,  M.  1).,  clinical  Professor  of  Genito- 
urinary Diseases.  John  II.  Musser,  .M.  I>..  is  Assistant  Professor  of 
clinical  Medicine;  John  B.  Deaver,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Professor  of 
Applied  Anatomy,  and  Charles  K.  Mills,  M,  l)..  Professor  of  Mental 
Diseases  and  -Medical  Jurisprudence.  The  lecturers,  demonstrators 
aud  instructors  are:  Adolph  W.  Miller.  M.  D.,  Lecturer  <»n  Materia 
Medica;  Henry  R.  Wharton,  M.  1).,  Demonstrator  of  Osteology; 
Thomas  R.  Neilson,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Surgery; 
Edmund  W.  Holmes,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  Judson 
Daland,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  clinical  Medicine  and  Lecturer  on 
Physical  Diagnosis;  G.  G.  Davis,  M.  D.,  M.  K.  C.  S.  Eng.,  Assistanl 
Demonstrator  of  Surgery;  John  K.  Mitchell,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on 
General  Symptomatology  and  Diagnosis;  George  II.  Chambers, 
M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Normal  Histology:  James  K. 
Young,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Benry  W.  Cattell, 
M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Morbid  Anatomy;  Robert  Formad,  M.  !  >.. 
V.  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Normal  Histology;  Arthur  A.  Stevens, 
M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Medical  Terminology  and  Inst  rnctor  in  Physical 
Diagnosis;  Benjamin  l\  St  a  hi,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Physical  Diag- 
nosis; John  c.  Ileisler,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy 
and  Prosector  to  the  Professor  of  Anatomy ;  Frederick  A.  Packard. 
M.  I).,  [nstructor  in  Physical  Diagnosis;  Richard  C.  Norris,  M.  !>.. 
Instructor  in  Obstetrics  and  Lecturer  on  clinical  and  op- 
erative Obstetrics;  Milton  P.  Hartzell,  M..  !>..  Instructor  in 
Dermatology;  Charles  S.  Potts,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Elec- 
tro Therapeutics  and  Nervous  Diseases;  Walter  T.  Pennock, 
M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy:   Herman    B.  Allyn, 

21 


322  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

M.  D.j  Instructor  in  Diagnosis:  William  Schleif,  Ph.  G., 
M.  D..  Instructor  in  Practical  Pharmacy;  James  M.  Brown, 
M.  D.j  Instructor  in  Otology;  W.  Constantine  Goodell,  M.  D., 
Instructor  in  Clinical  Gynecology;  M.  Howard  Fussell,  M.  D.,  and 
Samuel  W.  Morton,  M.  D.,  Instructors  in  Clinical  Medicine;  Alfred 
C.  Wood,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Clinical  Surgery;  Elwood  E.  Kirby, 
M.  D.,  and  Charles  L.  Leonard,  M.  I).,  Assistant  Instructors  in 
Clinical  Surgery;  George  C.  Stout,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator 
of  Histology;  Robert  S.  J.  Mitcheson,  M.  D., Assistant  Demonstrator 
of  Anatomy:  Da^id  B.  Birney,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Surgery;  Joseph  T.  Tunis,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Sur- 
gery and  Anatomy;  Alfred  Stengel,  M.  D.,  and  T.  Mellor  Tyson, 
M.  D.,  Instructors  in  Clinical  Medicine;  Charles  TV.  Dulles,  Lecturer 
on  the  History  of  Medicine;  Daniel  W.  Fetterolf,  M.  D.,  Assistant 
Demonstrator  of  Chemistry;  Harry  Toulmin,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in 
Physical  Diagnosis;  David  Eiesman,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Patho- 
logical Histology;  Charles  P.  Grayson,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  and  In- 
structor in  Laryngology;  Henry  D.  Beyea,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in 
Clinical  Gynecology  and  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics; 
William  A.  N.  Dorland,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Obstet- 
rics: William  S.  Wadsworth,  Assistant  in  Physiology;  Clarence 
W.  Lincoln,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Pathological  His- 
tology; John  H.Girrin,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Clinical  Gynecology  and 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics;  Ward  F.  Spenkel,  M.  D., 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics;  Lawrence  S.  Smith,  M.  D., 
Instructor  in  Clinical  Gynecology;  John  M.  Swan,  M.  D.,  Assistant 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  Charles  H.  Frazier,  M.  D.,  Assistant  in 
Clinical  Surgery;  William  R.  Hoch,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Laryn- 
gology; James  P.  Hutchinson,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Sur- 
gery:  J.  Dutton  Steele,  M.D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Morbid  An- 
atomy: William  S.  Carter,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Physiology;  How- 
ard Mellor,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Ophthalmology;  J.  Kex  Hobensack, 
M.  D.,  Prosector  to  the  Assistant  Professor  of  Applied  Anatomy; 
WjlHain  H.  Price,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Children's  Diseases;  Fred- 
<  ii<  kG.Hertel,  Ph.  G.,  Assistant  Instructor  in  Practical  Pharmacy; 
Alnvsius  O.  J.  Kelly,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Physical  Diagnosis;  Frank 


i\    PHILADELPHIA. 

8.    Pearce,    &f.    l>.,    [nstructor    in  Physical     Diagnosis;    Alt] 
Sand,  Jr.,  .\l.  l>..  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Pathological    Bis- 
tology;  James  ll.  McKee,  ML.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Physi- 
ology; and  Thompson  8.  Westcott,  .M.  I>..  [nstructor  in  Children's 
I  diseases. 

The  work  of  iliis  large  faculty  requires  commodious  buildings. 
These  are  the  Medical  Sail,  which,  beside  lecture-rooms  ;m<l  the 
like,  contains  also  the  laboratories  of  Sistology,  Osteosyndes- 
mology,  Physiology,  l*;it lioloji-y,  Pharmacy  ;m<l  Experimental 
Therapeutics;  the  Laboratory  Building,  used  for  the  Dental  Depart- 
ment, the  chemical  laboratories  and  the  dissecting-room:  the  Sob 
pital,  which  treats  about  12,000  cases  annually,  with  its  <iihs.ni 
wing  for  chronic  diseases,  the  D.  Hayes  Agnew  Memorial  Pavilion 
for  clinical  instruction,  the  William  Pepper  Laboratory  of  Clinical 
Medicine  and  the  amphitheaters;  the  Maternity  Hospital,  begun  in 
1889  and  completed  in  1894,  with  a  capacity  of  fifty  beds;  the  Wis- 
tar  Institute  of  Anatomy  and  Biology,  containing  the  Wistar  and 
Horner  Museum,  and  other  collections  of  Drs.  Wood,  Hodge,  Smith, 
Neill  and  Agnew.  Ample  clinical  facilities  are  also  afforded  by  t  In- 
neighboring  Philadelphia  Hospital.  The  Stille  Medical  Library, 
presented  in  1ST0,  contains  over  six  thousand  volumes.  About  fifty 
graduates  arc  appointed  annually  to  the  hospitals  in  this  and  other 
cities.  The  entire  plant  of  the  Medical  Department  is  grouped  with 
the  other  numerous  structures  of  the  University  at  Woodland 
avenue  and  Thirty-fourth  street,  near  the  Philadelphia  Hospital. 
in  West  Philadelphia,  and  has  been  largely  the  product  of  this 
period.  Indeed,  the  University's  work  has  been  so  typical  of  the 
splendid  advancement  of  medicine  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century — 
its  elevation  of  medical  educational  standards,  its  highly  developed 
scientific  methods,  its  specialization,  and  a.  multitude  of  other  do 
less  important,  features — that,  so  far  as  Philadelphia  is  concerned, 
the  era  thus  ushered  in  might  be  called  the  New  University  period. 
Happily,  too,  has  it  carried  out  the  spirit  of  Franklin,  Morgan. 
Shippen  and  Rush;  the  dominance  of  the  scientific  spirit  of  Frank 
lin;  the  far-seeing,  philosophic  spirit  of  Hush;  the  high  educational 
Standards  of  Morgan,  and  the  practical   application   and   skill  of 


324  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Shippen.  It  has  preserved  them  all  to  an  admirable  degree,  and 
thus  the  last  period  has  attained  the  high  aims  of  its  founders.  The 
chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  has  ever  been  most  fortunately  occu- 
pied in  the  University  by  men  of  brilliant  attainments.  In  the  early 
days  of  the  University  its  occupant  was  the  founder  of  the  Medi- 
cal School;  in  the  present  period  the  chair  is  filled  by  one  whose 
name  must  ever  be  associated  with  many  of  the  measures  that  have 
marked  the  development  of  the  University  Medical  School — Dr. 
William  Pepper. 

The  material  equipment  of  the  Medical  School  has  this  year 
(1897),  under  Provost  Harrison,  been  greatly  increased,  by  the  fact 
that  the  large  Dental  Building,  contiguous  to  Medical  Hall,  has 
been  wholly  given  up  to  the  uses  of  the  Medical  Department,  the 
Dental  School  being  commodiously  lodged  in  a  handsome  struc- 
ture, just  completed.  The  resources  of  the  University  Hospital 
have  also  this  year  been  largely  increased  by  the  opening  of  the  D. 
Hayes  Agnew  pavilion — a  fine  memorial  to  the  late  distinguished 
surgeon,  Dr.  Agnew,  so  many  years  of  whose  life  were  devoted  to 
surgical  work  at  the  University. 

Another  indication  of  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  University 
is  found  in  the  marked  rise  in  the  requirements  for  admission  to  the 
Medical  School — a  further  gradual  rise  being  announced  until  the 
year  1899.  This  will  insure  hereafter  a  thorough  general  educa- 
tion on  the  part  of  all  who  hold  the  University's  medical  degree. 

Jefferson  Medical  College,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
period,  was  located  on  Tenth  street,  near  the  Pennsylvania  Hospi- 
tal. To  this  institution  belonged  the  enviable  honor  of  having  fur- 
nished from  its  chair  of  Surgery  one  of  the  two  most  highly  hon- 
ored men  in  the  entire  history  of  American  medicine,  to  preside 
over  the  deliberations  of  the  first  International  Medical  Congress 
held  in  the  United  States.  Its  faculty  in  1876  included  Drs.  Joseph 
Pancoast,  Samuel  D.  Gross  and  Ellerslie  Wallace,  on  the  emeritus 
list,  and  Drs.  B.  Howard  Band,  John  B.  Biddle,  J.  Aitken  Meigs, 
J.  M.  Da  Costa  and  W.  H.  Pancoast,  as  active  professors.  The  final 
change  in  this  faculty  was  that  already  mentioned,  the  accession  of 
Dr.  Rogers  to  the  chair  of  Chemistry  in  1877-8,  in  place  of  Dr.  Band, 


S/fflfetZfr^     l/-€^/^7 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

when  Dr.  Rogers  lefl  the  University.  Two  years  Later  Dr.  Ltoberts 
Bartholow  succeeded  Dr.  Biddle,  and  the  year  following  that,  L880 
81,  Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman  took  the  place  of  Dr.  Meigs.  The  faculty 
bad  been  more  and  more  impressing  itself  upon  the  profession  ;ii 
large.  The  work  of  Dr.  Cross  as  ;i  teacher  of  Surgery,  and  of  Dr. 
Da  Costa,  equally  strong  in  the  chair  of  Medicine,  as  well  as  the 
general  strength  of  the  faculty  and  the  progressive  spirit  of  tbe 
institution,  all  succeeded  in  bringing  ap  the  attendance  in  L881-2 
to  630  matriculates,  tin-  famous  record  «»t'  ante-bellum  days.  The 
year  1882-3  witnessed  n  change  in  the  chair  <>\  Surgery;  Dr.  Gi 
tin-  older,  was  made  emeritus  professor,  and  liis  chair  was  divided 
between  his  Bon,  Dr.  Samuel  W.  Cross,  win.  was  elected  Professor 
"i  the  Principles  of  Surgery,  and  Dr.  John  II.  Brinton,  who  was 
assigned  the  chair  of  the  Practice  <>t'  Surgery. 

Samuel  W.  Gross,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  was  the  old. -si  son  of  the 
eminent  surgeon  whom  he  succeeded.  "Ho  was  a  Learned  surgeon," 
said  a  writer  in  the  Medical  News,  "deeply  versed  not  only  in  the 
medical  literature  of  his  own  language,  bu1  also  in  thai  of  Ger- 
many  and  France.  He  was  a  constant  reader  <»t'  periodicals,  reports 
and  transactions  of  societies.  His  memory  was  retentive,  and  the 
precise  information  thus  stored  up  was  always  ;it  his  instant  com- 
mand. His  professional  judgmenl  was  unusually  correct,  and  his 
surgical  treatment  was  based  upon  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
pathological  anatomy  of  diseased  or  injured  parts.  As  an  operator, 
he  Mas  bold  and  self-reliant.  He  was  systematic  in  the  ilighesi 
degree.  Every  step  in  the  operation  was  thoughtfully  planned  and 
boldly,  judiciously  and  promptly  carried  out.  He  was  fertile  <>f 
resources,  undaunted  and  well  able  to  moot  and  deal  with  the  con- 
tingencies of  operative  surgery.  Be  was  a  thorough  and  careful 
operator,  seeing  to  the  final  steps  and  dressing  of  an  operation  with 
an  unremitting  attention.  His  operations  were  well  done  to  the 
end.  As  a  lecturer.  Dr.  Gross  was  eloquent,  earnest  and  enthusias- 
tic. He  was  loved  and  respected  by  his  class,  who  fully  appreciated 
his  rare  power  of  imparting  knowledge  and  his  unflagging  efforts 
for  their  instruction.  \\i^  was  indeed  a  model  teacher.  His  style 
was  clear,  logical  and  terse.    He  taught,  in  an  eminent  degree,  prin- 


328  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ciples,  and  seeing  clearly  he  sought  to  make  others  see.  He  suc- 
ceeded, and  his  lectures,  didactic  and  clinical,  were  thronged  with 
listeners  of  maturer  years,  who  came  to  profit  by  his  lessons."  Dr. 
Gross  was  about  forty-five  years  old  when  he  came  to  this  chair. 
He  was  born  in  1837,  in  Cincinnati,  O.,  and  was  educated  at  Shelby 
College,  Kentucky.  His  medical  studies  were,  of  course,  begun 
under  his  father  and  continued  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Louisville,  although  he  finished  in  Jefferson  Medical 
College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1857.  He  spent  some  time 
in  Europe  before  he  settled  in  practice  in  Philadelphia,  and  soon 
after  locating,  he  was  made  coeclitor  of  the  North  American  Med- 
ico-Chirurgical  Review,  founded  by  his  father.  In  1861  he  entered 
the  United  States  service  as  brigade  surgeon  of  the  United  States 
Volunteers,  acting  with  the  Arni}^  of  the  Ohio,  where  he  was  medi- 
cal director  of  the  Fifth  Division  until  the  summer  of  1862.  He 
then  served  in  De  Camp  General  Hospital,  New  York  harbor,  until 
the  summer  of  1863,  when  he  was  sent  to  South  Carolina,  in  charge 
of  hospitals  there  and  in  Florida,  and  rose  to  be  the  chief  medical 
officer  of  the  Northern  District  of  that  department.  In  1864  he  was 
in  charge  of  Haddington  Hospital  in  this  city,  and  for  his  services 
brevetted  lieutenant-colonel.  The  transfer  to  other  hospitals 
and  the  lectureship  on  Genito-Urinary  Diseases  in  the  summer 
course  in  Jefferson  Medical  College,  were  natural  and  easy  steps 
after  the  war,  and  were  followed  in  due  time  by  the  succession  to 
his  father's  chair,  which  he  filled  for  the  seven  years  previous  to 
his  death  in  1889.  He  was  a  prolific  writer  and  was  associated 
with  his  father  in  much  of  it.  His  own  chief  works  are  those  on 
Tumors  of  the  Mammary  Gland  and  Diseases  of  the  Male  Sexual  Organs, 
appearing  respectively  in  1880  and  1881,  and  showing  him  to  be  an 
authority  on  genito-urinary  diseases,  to  which  he  had  given  especial 
attention  for  many  years.  He  was  active  in  professional  organiza- 
tions, especially  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  in  the  two  socie- 
ties which  were  founded  by  his  father:  the  Pathological  Society 
and  the  American  Surgical  Association,  the  first  of  the  last  two 
mentioned  conferring  upon  him  its  highest  honor,  that  of  the  office 


J.    M.    DA    COSTA. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  331 

of  president.    Such  was  the  man   who,  with  l>r.  Brinton,  assumed 
th<-  duties  of  Jefferson's  greatest  professor  in  L882. 

It  was  in  1883-4  thai  the  next  change  occurred,  when  Dr.  Wal- 
lace was  made  emeritus  professor,  and  Dr.  Theophilus  Parvin  of 
Indiana  was  called  i<»  succeed  him.    Chairs  of  Ophthalmology  and 
Laryngology  were  created  about  this  time,  and  1  >v±.  William  Thom- 
son and  J.  Solis  Cohen  appointed  <<>  them,  though  they  were  ranked 
as  honorary  chairs  for  ;i  time.    These  enlargements  were  due  in 
sonic  measure  to  the  post-graduate  courses  that  were  begun  the 
following  year,  and  to  the  successful  work  of  the  summer  coursi  - 
Dr.  J.  W.  Holland  succeeded  Dr.  Rogers  in   L885-6,  and  the  nexl 
year  l>r.  Pancoast,  the  younger,  having  withdrawn,  his  chair  was 
occupied  by  Dr.  William  S.  Forbes.     In   L888-9,  a  large  stall'  of 
clinical  and  ether  Lecturers  were  added:     Drs.  Morris  Longstreth, 
0.  H.  Allis,  diaries  E.  Sajous,  Oliver  P.  Rex,  A.  Van  Earlingen  and 
James  C.  Wilson  (<•);  and  the  following  year,  on  the  death  of  Dr. 
Gross,  his  successor.  Dr.  \\\  W.  Keen,  the  present  incumbent  of  the 
chair  of  Surgery.    A  chair  of  General  Pathology  and  Pathological 
Anatomy  was  created  in  1891-2,  and  Dr.  Longstreth  elected  i<-  it. 
while  Dr.  llobart  A.  Hare  succeeded  Dr.  Bartholow,  who  became 
Professor  Emeritus,  and  Dr.  James  C.  Wilson  came  to  the  chair  s.. 
lone;  made  famous  throughout  the  professional  world  by  Dr.  Da 
Costa's  ability  as  a.  teacher.     Dr.  Da   Costa,  now   emeritus  pro- 
fessor, is  at.  present  the  honored  president  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians.   In  1S92-3,  when  preparations  were  making  for  enlarging  the 
course  to  three  years  of  study.  Dr.  E.  E.  Montgomery  was  made  Pro- 
fessor of  clinical  Gynecology,  and  a  large  staff  of  honorary  and 
clinical  professors  was  created.    These  were  Drs.  Thomson,  Cohen, 
Stelwagon,  H.  A.  Wilson,  E.  E.  Graham,  E.  X.  Dercum;  in  after 
years,  Dr.  \Y.  L  Coplin,  in  1893-4;  Drs.  1-:.  de  Schweinitz  and  Orville 
Horwitz,  in   1894-5;  Drs.  W.  J.  llearn,   Edward    P.   Davis,  S.  Ma.  - 
Cuen    Smith    and    Howard    E.    Hansell,    in    1895-6,    and    \h\    A.    P. 
Brubaker,    in    1896-7.      Dr.    Thomson    was    made    lull    professor 
in    1895-6,    and    Dr.    Coplin    in    1896-7,    when    the    establishment 
of  a  four  rears'  course  still   father  advanced   the  standards  of 


(c)    Dr.  li.  W.  Stelwagon  was  added  to  this  li-i  in  1890-91. 


332  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Jefferson,  and  numerous  clinical  and  laboratory  advantages  were 
provided  for. 

The  present  faculty  of  Jefferson  is  as  follows :  J.  M.  Da  Costa, 
M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Practice  of  Medicine  and 
Clinical  .Medicine;  Roberts  Bartholow,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Emeritus  Pro- 
fessor of  Materia  Medica,  General  Therapeutics,  and  Hygiene; 
Henry  C.  Chapman,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Institutes  of  Medicine  and 
Medical  Jurisprudence;  John  H.  Brinton,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the 
Practice  of  Surgery  and  of  Clinical  Surgery;  Theophilus  Parvin, 
M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children;  James  W.  Holland,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Medical  Chemistry 
and  Toxicology  and  Dean  of  the  College;  William  S.  Forbes,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  General  Descriptive  and  Surgical  Anatomy;  William 
W.  Keen,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Principles  of  Surgery  and 
of  Clinical  Surgery;  H.  A.  Hare,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica 
and  Therapeutics;  James  C.  Wilson,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Practice  of 
Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine;  E.  E.  Montgomery,  M.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Clinical  Gynecology;  W.  M.  L.  Coplin,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Pathology  and  Bacteriology;  and  G.  E.  de  Schweinitz,  M.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Ophthalmology.  The  honorary  and  clinical  professors  are: 
J.  Solis-Cohen,  M.  D.,  Honorary  Professor  of  Laryngology;  Henry 
W.  Stelwagon,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Dermatology;  H.  Augus- 
tus Wilson,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Ed- 
win E.  Graham,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children; 
F.  X.  Dercum,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Xervous 
System;  Orville  Horwitz,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Genito-Uri- 
nary  Diseases;  Edward  P.  Davis,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Obstet- 
rics; S.  MacCuen  Smith,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Otology;  W. 
Joseph  Hearn,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Surgery;  How- 
ard F.  Hansell,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Ophthalmology; 
D.  Braden  Kyle,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Laryngology;  J.  Chal- 
mers Da  Costa,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Surgery;  and  Albert  P. 
Brubaker,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Hygiene,  and  H.  E.  Harris, 
M.  D.,  Associate  in  Pathology.  S.  Solis-Cohen  is  Lecturer  on  Clin- 
ical Medicine,  and  the  demonstrators  are:  A.  Hewson,  M.  D.,  for 
Anatomy;  E.  Q.  Thornton,  M.  D.,  for  Therapeutics,  Pharmacy  and 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Materia  Medica;  Thomas  <:.  Ashton,  .M.  l>.,  for  Clinical  Medicine; 
Julius  l>.  Salinger,  M.  l>..  for  Clinical  Medicine;  Albert  NT.  Jacob, 
M.D.,  for  Chemistry;  C.  II.  Reckefus,  Jr.,  M.  l>.,  for  Obstetrics;  J.  M. 
Fisher,  M.  I>.,  for  Clinical  Gynecology;  L.  Bevan,  M.  D.,  for  Morbid 
Anatomy  and  Bacteriology;  C.  A.  Veasey,  M.  I  >.,  for  Ophthal- 
mology; J.  Torrance  Rugh,  M.  1>..  for  Orthopaedics;  and  George  W. 

Spencer,  M.  I>.,  for  Surgery.    The  instructors  and  assistant  de a- 

Btrators  are:  Max  Bochroch,  M.  D.,  instructor  in  Electro  Thera- 
peutics; Emanuel  J.  Stout,  M.  D.,  instructor  in  Dermatology;  F.  K. 
Brown,  M.  1>.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  Children;  E.  L.  Klopp,  M.  i  >.. 
Instructor  in  Otology;  C.  W.  Boopes,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Otology; 
W.  M.  Sweet,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Ophthalmology;  John  Lindsay. 
M.  IX,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  W.  J  I.  Wells,  M.  I>.. 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical  Obstetrics;  J.  P.  Bolton.  M.  1 >.. 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry;  II.  1!.  Loux,  M.  I  >.,  Assistant 
Demonstrator  of  Surgery;  O.  H.  Reckefus,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Assistanl  1  dem- 
onstrator of  Anatomy;  C.  D.  S.  Fruh,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demon- 
strator of  Anatomy;  Howard  Dehoney,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demon- 
strator of  Anatomy;  J.  R.  Crawford,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demons!  rati  r 
of  Anatomy;  Handle  C.  Rosenberger,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator 
of  Histology;  E.  II.  Irvine,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry; 
E.  II.  Green,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Surgery;  Henry  L. 
Dexter,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Surgery;  Lynford  L. 
Moore,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Surgery;  W.  Krusen, 
M.  D..,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical  Gynecology;  W.  N. 
Sedgwick,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical  Medicine; 
J.  C.  Da  Costa,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical  Medi- 
cine; F.  Hurst  Maier,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical 
Gynecology;  John  Gibbon,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anat- 
omy; Henry  Tucker,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Clinical 
Medicine;  W.  J.  Gillespie,  M.  1>.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Morbid 
Histology;  Nathan  G.  Ward,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Mor- 
bid Histology;  A.  1*'.  Target  te,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Morbid  Histology;  J.  ( Joles  Brick,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy;  D.  Gregg  Matheny,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Surgery;  C.  R.  Adams,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Morbid 


33-1  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Anatomy;  T.  L.  Bhoads,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Morbid 
Histology,  and  Charles  Braddock,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of 
Surgery. 

The  four  fine  buildings  that  constitute  the  plant  of  the  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College  are  situated  on  Tenth  and  Sansom  streets. 
The  Medical  Hall  has  its  two  large  lecture-rooms,  each  with  a 
capacity  of  750;  a  museum,  containing  the  collections  of  Drs.  Gross 
and  Da  Costa;  the  dissecting-room,  with  its  forty  tables;  the  labora- 
tories of  Pharmacy,  Therapeutics,  Chemistry  and  Obstetrics,  and 
the  reading-room  and  private  rooms  for  various  professors.  The 
Laboratory  Building  proper  contains  laboratories  of  Chemistry, 
Physiology,  Morbid  Anatomy,  Major  and  Minor  Surgery  and  the 
faculty-room.  The  Hospital  Laboratory  Building  has  three  floors, 
with  especial  desk  arrangements  for  110  students,  with  100  micro- 
scopes and  other  appliances  for  bacteriological  and  other  study. 
The  hospital  has  long  been  the  pride  of  Jefferson,  and  its  140  beds 
are  constantly  tilled,  while  its  out-patient  department  averages  300 
cases  daily.  It  has  a  large  amphitheater,  even  larger  than  the  lec- 
ture-rooms, and  smaller  rooms  for  the  use  of  classes.  During  the 
past  year,  1,587  cases  were  cared  for  in  the  wards  alone,  and  16,487 
in  the  out-patient  department.  Besides  these,  there  is  a  Maternity 
Department  at  224  South  Seventh  street,  a  Training  School  for 
Nurses  at  the  hospital,  a  Nurses'  Home  at  228  South  Seventh  street, 
and  a  Students'  Eeading-Room  at  Tenth  and  Walnut  streets.  The 
Pennsylvania  Hospital  is  near  at  hand,  and  twenty  other  hospitals 
of  the  city  are  easily  accessible,  many  of  them  having  Jefferson 
teachers  on  their  staffs.  About  fifty  students  from  the  college  are 
arjpointed  as  residents  to  hospitals  every  year  in  this  and  other 
cities,  and  about  twenty-five  prizes  are  awarded.  Such  is  Jeffer- 
son's development  after  seventy-three  years.  It  is  interesting  to 
observe  that  while  the  University  was  founded  by  a  physician,  and 
produced,  perhaps,  as  her  most  eminent  figure,  a  physician,  (al- 
though she  also  produced  the  "Father  of  American  Surgery"),  Jef- 
ferson was  founded  by  a  surgeon,  and  has  produced  in  the  present 
period,  in  the  incumbent  of  the  chair  of  surgery,  one  of  the  most 
eminent  of  American  surgeons.    She  has  not,  however,  lacked  a  rep- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

resentative  in  medicine,  baying  during  this  period  also  furnished 
one  of  the  foremost  teachers  of  medicine  in  the  land  Dp.  J.  ML 
Da  Costa.  For  Jefferson,  this  has  been  n  period  dominated  by  the 
fame  of  Gross,  its  first  year  ushered  in  by  liis  presidency  of  t  be  first 
International  Medical  Congress,  and  its  last  distinguished  by  the 

erecti f  bis  statue  in  the  grounds  of  the  National  Capitol,  an 

even!  due  largely  to  the  impetus  given  the  movement  by  the  Jeffer- 
son A liimni  Association. 

Besides  the  University  :i  n< I  Jefferson,  there  was  but  one  other 
<>f  the  present  medical  schools  of  Philadelphia  in  existence  in  l*7<;, 
the  beginning  of  this  period.    This  was  the  "Woman's  Medical  Col- 
legeof  Pennsylvania."    It  has  already  been  observed  I  bat,  although 
it  was  founded  by  men,  and  suffered  for  no  short  period  the  mis- 
fortune of  having  among  its  friends  some  who  were  not  believed  to 
be  free  from  medical  heresies,  it  bravely  overcame  these  disabil- 
ities.   During  the  present  period  the  school  has  won  recognition 
equal  to  that  accorded  to  the  first  institutions  in  the  land,  from  the 
last,  stronghold  of  opposition — the  County  Medical  Society.    It  will 
be  recalled  that  this  college  won  the  battle  for  the  recognition  of 
women  by  the  National  Medical  Society  in  1871.    "Ten  years  passed 
by,"  says  Dr.  Clara  Marshall,  in  her  outline  history  of  the  college, 
"and  still  women  practitioners  of  medicine  in  Philadelphia  were 
excluded  from  the  County  Society,  and  were,  therefore,  ineligible  to 
membership  in  the  State  Society  and  in  the  American  Medical 
Association,  both  made  up  of  delegates  from  the  county  societies; 
and  it  seemed  to  them  and  their  friends  in  Philadelphia  rather  an 
anomaly,  Avhen,  in  1876,  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett-Stevenson  was  sent  as 
a  delegate  from  Chicago  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion in  Philadelphia,  aud  received,  without  question,  to  membershi] 
in  an  association  from  which  women,  long  well-known  to  the  pro- 
fession and  to  the  public  as  professors  in  the  college,  and  ;is  sn<-- 
cessful  practitioners  in  the  city,  were  excluded.    Alumnae  of  the 
college,  resident  in  Montgomery  County,  the  home  of  I>r.  Corson, 
were  also  ;it.  this  time  members  of  the  County  Society,  and.  there- 
fore, eligible  to  membership  in  both  the  State  Society  and    the 
American  Medical  Association,  while  some  members  of  the  faculty 


336  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  the  college  whose  names  gave  validity  to  their  diplomas  were 
ineligible."  In  1877  the  college  sent  Dr.  Frances  E.  White,  as  the 
woman  member  of  its  delegation,  to  the  Association  of  American 
Medical  Colleges,  of  which  Dr.  Gross  was  president,  and  she  was 
admitted,  although  the  great  surgeon  had  been  one  of  the  oppo- 
nents of  recognition  in  the  County  Medical  Society,  all  of  which 
shows  the  curious  situation  brought  about  by  the  conflict  between 
conservative  Philadelphia  and  other  more  radical  sections  of  the 
constituency  of  the  National  Association.  In  the  spring  of  1881, 
however,  some  members  of  the  County  Society  presented  the  names 
of  five  women  physicians  for  membership.  The  question  of  their 
admission  had  been  a  chronic  one  for  so  long,  and,  like  the  slavery 
question  in  national  politics,  was  composed  of  such  irritating  and 
inflammable  materials,  that  the  members  strove  to  avoid  it.  The 
by-laws  of  the  society  provided  only  for  male  membership,  and, 
although  that  was  the  case,  in  October  of  that  year  it  was  resolved, 
"That  female  medical  practitioners  in  good  standing  in  the  profes- 
sion are  eligible  to  membership  in  this  society  under  the  same  laws 
and  regulations  now  governing  the  admission  of  men."  The  by- 
laws, however,  were  held  to  stand  in  the  way,  and  in  April,  1882, 
when  these  candidates  were  again  presented,  they  were  defeated, 
and  women  continued  to  be  defeated  for  five  succeeding  elections 
thereafter.  Efforts  to  change  the  by-laws  at  last  secured  the  neces- 
sary two-thirds  vote,  and  in  1884  an  heroic  canvass  was  made  for 
the  election  of  women. 

Even  the  medical  journals,  as  well  as  the  daily  papers,  made 
efforts  to  speed  the  day  for  their  recognition.  A  writer  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Medical  Times,  1883,  says :  "It  must  be  acknowledged  that 
the  strictly  regular  instruction  imparted  in  the  principal  medical 
schools  for  women  has  excited  respect  and  greatly  tended  to  over- 
come former  prejudices.  The  admission  of  women  is  now  a  fixed 
fact."  It  was  not,  however,  until  1888,  that  the  Philadelphia 
County  Medical  Society  elected  its  first  woman  member— Dr.  Mary 
Willets. 

The  Neurological  and  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  Societies 
admitted  women  the  same  year,  and  in  1890  Dr.  Frances  Emilv 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

White  represented  the  ( Sollege  and  Mm*  <  Jounty  Society  in  the  [nter- 
aational  Medical  Congress  .it  r.erlin.  The  women  organized  their 
A  I  ii  in  n.  i-  Medical  Society  llial  same  year  i  ls'.Hli,  jim  I  two  years  later 
they  were  admit t<'<l  to  the  Obstetrical  Society  of  the  city.  The 
Northern  Medical  Association  was  tin-  firsl  society  in  Philadelphia 
to  admit  women,  bnt  only  for  temporary  reasons,  and  returned  i" 
their  original  custom  after  their  entrance  into  the  County  Medical 
Society.  This  struggle  for  recognition  was  in  one  sense  .1  society, 
rather  than  ;i  college  question,  bul  as  it  was  far  more  vital  to,  and 
more  characteristic  of,  the  progress  of  this  college  than  of  the 
societies,  it.  has  been  considered  solely  in  connection  with  the 
Woman's  College,  whose  growth  toward  excellence  made  its  suc- 
cess possible. 

It  has  already  boon  noted  that  Dr.  Ann  Preston  was  the  first 
woman  to  enter  the  faculty  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  taking 
ill--  (hair  of  Physiology,  and  that  Dr.  Emeline  II.  Cleveland  w;^ 
the  second.  The  latter  occupied  the  chair  of  Anatomy.  In  1857, 
besides  these  two  women  professors,  there  were  five  men  pro- 
fessors, the  dean  being  a  man — Dr.  Edwin  Fussell.  This  was  when 
the  college  was  at  229  Arch  street  (d).  Ten  jears  later,  after  its 
removal  to  North  College  avenue  and  Twenty-second  street,  these 
proportions  were  reversed,  there  being  but  two  men  on  the  regular 
faculty,  and  Dr.  Ann  Preston  was  dean.  The  women  were  Drs.  Ann 
Preston  in  Physiology,  Emeline  H.  Cleveland  in  Obstetrics,  Mary 
J.  Scarlett  in  Anatomy  and  Rachel  L.  Bodley  in  Chemistry.  There 
were  then  forty-two  students  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  In 
18G9-70,  two  able  men,  Drs.  Charles  H.  Thomas  and  Henry  Harts 
home,  joined  the  faculty,  and  were  the  most  successful  of  any  up  to 
i  hat. time  in  winning  respect  for  the  college  among  the  profession  at 
large — at  least  the  respect  that  brings  professional  recognition. 
This  year  was  one  of  great  prosperity  for  the  college  in  the  legacn  s 
left  it,  and  in  the  opening  up  of  the  clinical  facilities  afforded  by  the 
Philadelphia  and  AVills  Hospitals  to  its  students.  The  term  of 
study  required  was  tln.-e  years.  In  1872  -3  its  faculty  was  increased 
to  nine  members,  the  four  seniors  being  women,  although  Dr.  1' 
nit    The  presenl  number  of  the  same  building  is  627. 

no 


338  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ton's  death,  during  1872  removed  one  of  them.  A  staff  of  four 
auxiliary  instructors  was  introduced  in  1874-5,  which,  with  Dr. 
Frances  E.  White  as  demonstrator,  in  1872,  added  four  women  to 
the  faculty.  These  were  Dr.  Hannah  T.  Croasdale  in  Surgery,  Dr. 
Elizabeth  O.  Keller  in  Practice  and  Obstetrics,  Dr.  Clara  Marshall 
in  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy,  and  Dr.  White  in  Anatomy  and 
Physiology.  A  spring  course  had  been  established  with  success,. 
and  the  following  year  one  more  woman  was  added,  Dr.  Anna  E. 
Broomall,  as  instructor  in  Obstetrics,  making  a  faculty  of  fourteen, 
eight  of  whom  were  women.  These  changes,  together  with  the  fine 
new  college  building  on  Twenty-first  street,  gave  great  impetus  to 
progress,  and  in  the  year  that  opens  the  present  period,  three  more 
women  were  added — Drs.  Mary  Branson,  Anna  M.  McAllister  and 
Mary  E.  Allen — as  instructors,  making  nine  women.  Dr.  Alice  Ben- 
net  became  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  1877-8  and  among  the  men 
occupying  professorships  in  the  institution  was  the  present  Pro- 
fessor of  Surgery  at  Jefferson,  Dr.  W.  W.  Keen.  In  1878  Dr.  Amy  S. 
Barton  was  made  Instructor  in  Medicine,  and  the  following  year 
the  whole  teaching  corps  numbered  nineteen  members,  ten  of  whom 
were  women.  It  was  now  evident  that  the  college  included  in  its 
faculty  some  of  the  best  men  in  the  profession.  Dr.  Horatio  C.  Wood 
of  the  University  was  among  the  additions  that  year.  Among  other 
new  names  in  the  list  of  instructors  were  those  of  Drs.  Sophia  Pres- 
ley, Frances  N.  Baker  and  Ida  E.  Richardson.  In  1883  the  faculty 
recommended  a  four  years'  course,  and  Dr.  Anna  M.  Fullerton,  Dr. 
Lena  V.  Ingraham  and  Grace  L.  Babb  were  added  to  the  corps  of 
teachers.  Later,  Drs.  Elizabeth  R.  Bundy,  Emma  V.  Boone,  Susan  P. 
Stackhouse  and  Emma  E.  Musson  were  added,  so  that  by  the  time 
the  first  woman  was  admitted  to  the  County  Medical  Society  the  list 
of  teachers  included  twenty-six  members,  twelve  of  whom  were 
women.  Among  the  men  on  the  staff  were  the  well-known  prac- 
titioners, Keen,  Wood,  Reese,  Mills  and  others  of  like  reputation. 
Drs.  M.  Helen  Thompson,  Mary  Willits  and  Emma  Putnam  were 
later  elected  to  positions.  Dr.  Marie  K.  Formad,  Dr.  Caroline  M. 
Purnell,  Dr.  Lucy  N.  Tappan,  Dr.  Elizabeth  E.  Peck,  Dr.  Eleanor  C. 
Jones,  Dr.  Eleanor  M.  Hiestand,  Dr.  Mary  B.  McCollin  and  Dr. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Louise  M.  Harvej  were  added  by  L892,  and  by  the  following  y< 
the  complete  BtafE  numbered  forty-nine,  including  many  of  the 
brightesl  professional  Lights  of  Philadelphia.  Thus  h  will  be  seen 
tliat  the  splendid  struggle  of  the  Woman's  College  for  recognition 
terminated  in  victory  in  consequence  of  the  evidence  afforded  by  its 
aims  and  its  attainments,  of  its  worthiness  to  rank  with  its  sister 
institutions,  as  a  center  for  medical  instruction. 

The  present  faculty  includes  the  following  professors:  Clara 
Marshall,  M.  ]>..  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  General  Thera- 
peutics; Frances  Emily  White,  -M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physiology  and 
Hygiene;  Anna  E.  Broomall,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  Eannah 
T.  Croasdale,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology;  William  II.  Parish, 
M,  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  Henry  Leffman,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Toxicology;  John  P>.  Roberts,  M.  I).,  Professor  of  the 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery;  Frederick  P.  Henry,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicim*  and  Clinical 
Medicine;  Arthur  A.  Stevens,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Pathology.  The 
following  arc  Auxiliary  Instructors:  Elizabeth  R.  Bandy.  M.  I ».. 
Adjunct  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy; 
Amy  S.  Barton,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Ophthalmology;  Charles 
K.  Mills,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Neurology;  Henry  W.  Stel- 
wagon,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Dermatology:  Charles  H.  Bur* 
nett,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Otology;  Emma  E.  Musson,  M.  D., 
Clinical  Professor  of  Laryngology  and  Rhinology;  Lawrence  WolfF, 
M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Medicine;  Edward  P.  Davis,  M.  ]>., 
Clinical  Professor  of  Pediatrics;  James  K.  Young,  M.  D.,  Clinical 
Professor  of  Orthopedic  Surgery;  Anna  M.  Fullerton,  M.  D.,  Clinical 
Professor  of  Gynecology:  Alfred  Stengel,  M.  D..  Clinical  Professor 
of  Medicine;  Edward  Martin,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Surgery; 
Charles  K.  Mills,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Medical  Jurisprudence;  P.  G, 
Ryan,  Ph.  G.,  Lecturer  on  Pharmacy;  Eleanor  C.  Jones,  M.  I)., 
Lecturer  on  Symptomatology,  and  Demonstrator  and  Clinical 
Instructor  in  Practice  of  Medicine:  Lydia  Rabinowitsch,  Ph.  I'.. 
Director  of  the  Bacteriological  Laboratory;  Caroline  M.  Purnell, 
M.  D„  Demonstrator  and  Clinical  [nstructor  in  Gynecology;  Kate 
AN".  Baldwin,  M.  !>..  Demonstrator  and  Clinical  Instructor  in  Sur- 


>J40  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

gery;  Emma  L.  Billstein,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Histology  and 
Embryology;  Mary  W.  Grisconi,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Obstet- 
rics; Helen  Kirshbaum,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Chemistry;  Annie  Bar- 
tram  Hall,  M.  D.,  and  Kuth  Webster  Lathrop,  M.  D.,  Assistant 
Demonstrators  of  Physiology;  Kuth  W.  Lathrop,  M.  D.,  Agnes  B. 
Eobinson,  M.  D.,  and  Georgine  I.  Hochman,  M.  D.,  Assistant 
Demonstrators  of  Anatomy;  Mary  Thornton  Wilson,  M.  D.,  Assist- 
ant Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics;  Mary  Getty,  M.  D.,  and  Ada  How- 
ard-Audenried,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrators  of  Pathology;  Flor- 
ence Mayo,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Histology  and  Embry- 
ology: Katherine  A.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  and  Mary  Getty,  M.  D., 
Assistant  Demonstrators  of  Surgery;  Alice  M.  Hackley,  M.  D., 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Gynecology;  Amelia  A.  Dranga,  M.  D., 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry;  Frances  0.  Van  Gasken, 
M.  D.,  Assistant  in  Hygiene  and  Instructor  in  Medical  Diagnosis ; 
Clara  T.  Dercum,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Therapeutics;  Helen  Murphy, 
M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Materia  Medica;  Kuth  Webster  Lathrop,  M.  D., 
Prosector;  A.  A.  Sterens,  M.  D.,  Curator  of  Museum;  and  seven 
student  assistants. 

The  work  of  this  Medical  School  is  carried  on  in  the  following 
buildings:  The  College,  the  Laboratory,  Brinton  Hall,  and  the  ad- 
joining Clinic  Hall,  and  in  the  wards  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  of 
Philadelphia.  It  possesses  excellent  laboratories  of  Chemistry,  His- 
tology and  Embryology,  also  Physiological,  Pharmaceutical,  Patho- 
logical, and  Bacteriological  laboratories.  The  Maternity  of  the 
Woman's  Hospital,  and  the  hospital  proper,  in  which  over  seven 
thousand  cases  annually  are  treated,  and  which  has  a  clinical  am- 
phitheater, with  a  seating  capacity  of  about  three  hundred;  the 
hospital  and  dispensary  of  the  Alumnse  Association,  at  1212  South 
Third  street;  the  Maternity  Hospital  of  the  Woman's  Medical  Col- 
lege, at  335  Washington  avenue,  and  the  West  Philadelphia  Hos- 
pital for  Women,  furnish  the  best  of  hospital  advantages,  not  to 
speak  of  the  clinical  lectures  at  the  Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia, 
German,  Children's,  Lying-in  Charity,  Wills,  and  other  hospitals 
now  open  to  the  students.  The  students,  also,  have  a  good  reading- 
room,  library  and  museum,  and  the  advantages  of  Brinton  Hall,  a 


IX   PHILADELPHIA.  :;il 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association  home.  A  large  number  of 
internes  are  appointed  each  year  to  hospitals  in  this  and  other  cities, 
and  as  the  required  course  li;is  been,  since  L893,  four  years,  the 
students  arc  able  id  ciiicr  into  competition  with  those  of  the  besl 
schools  of  the  country.  The  matriculates  for  the  current  year  num- 
ber L64,  ami  the  lasi  graduating  class  enrolled  twenty-eight,  nine 
of  whom  were  Prom  Pennsylvania.  Forty-eight  years  have  passed 
since  its  establishment,  but,  Undoubtedly,  the  greatest  achievements 
of  this,  the  eldest  woman's  medical  college  in  the  world,  have  been 
wrought  within  the  present  period.  Beginning  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  I>r.  Cleveland  in  L878,  as  gynecologist  (<>  the  Department 
of  the  Insane  in  t  he  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  one  alter  anol  her  of  I  he 
public  institutions  has  added  its  representatives  to  their  staffs, 
until  the  number  has  already  grown  very  Large,  and  is  constantly 
increasing.  The  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania  1ms 
avou  an  enviable  place  in  the  history  of  medicine  as  the  Leader  in 
a  country  that  leads  in  the  professional  advancement,  of  women. 

Besides  the  wonderful  development  of  the  University  in  West 
Philadelphia,  Jefferson  in  the  old  central  part  of  the  city,  and  the 
Woman's  College  in  the  northern  part,  facing  Girard  College 
grounds,  this  period  has  had  enough  vitality  to  produce,  in  Loca- 
tions midway  between  these  three,  a  third  college  for  men,  and  an 
advanced  school  for  graduates  in  medicine,  giving  Philadelphia 
five  strong  schools  devoted  distinctively  to  the  regular  medical 
profession,  not  to  speak  of  numerous  other  semi-medical  institu- 
tions devoted  to  dentistry,  pharmacy,  and  the  like.  These  are  the 
Medico-Chirnrgical  College  of  Philadelphia,  with  its  beautiful  clin- 
ical Amphitheater,  Hospital,  Lecture  Hall  and  Laboratories,  at 
the  corner  of  North  Eighteenth  and  Cherry  streets,  and  the  Phila- 
delphia Polyclinic  and  College  for  Graduates  in  Medicine,  with  its 
great  four-story  combined  clinic  and  hospital  building  on  Lombard 
street,  above  Eighteenth. 

The   Medico-Chirnrgical    College  had    ils   origin,   according    to 

the  earliest  records,  on  the  13th  of  May,  I  sis.  as  a  society  whose 

plans  and  purposes  were  intended  lo  be  somewhat  similar  to  those 
of  the  ( 1ollege  of  Physicians,  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  in  no  sense 


342  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

a  college,  as  the  term  is  commonly  used,  but  a  permanent  associa- 
tion of  physicians.  It  will  be  recalled  that  just  the  year  before 
this  the  American  Medical  Association  was  formed  and  its  first 
annual  meeting  appointed  to  be  held  on  May  2,  1848,  at  Baltimore, 
with  delegates  from  all  medical  schools,  societies,  hospitals,  dis- 
pensaries and  other  institutions.  It  was  held  as  arranged,  and 
the  Philadelphia  institutions  that  sent  representatives  were  the 
old  Philadelphia  Medical  Society,  the  College  of  Physicians,  the 
University,  the  Medical  Institute,  Jefferson,  Pennsylvania  Medical 
College,  the  "Summer  Association,"  as  it  was  called,  the  Franklin 
Medical  College,  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  the  Philadelphia  Dispensary,  the  Northern  Dis- 
pensary, and  the  Northern  Medical  Association.  Of  these,  the 
old  Philadelphia  Medical  Society,  which  afterward  converted 
itself  into  the  County  Society,  sent  as  its  representatives  Drs.  B.  H. 
Coates,  W.  Ashmead,  John  Bell,  Gouverneur  Emerson,  Isaac  Par- 
rish,  Francis  West,  John  D.  Griscom,  Lewis  Kodman,  Samuel  Jack- 
son (professor),  John  B.  Biddle,  and  James  Bryan.  Of  these,  the 
last  mentioned,  Dr.  James  Bryan,  it  will  be  recalled,  had  a  j>rivate 
school  in  Arch  street  for  a  time.  The  Baltimore  meeting  closed 
on  the  5th,  and  on  the  13th  there  met  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Bryan, 
at  the  northeast  corner  Arch  and  Tenth  streets,  Drs.  James  Bryan, 
Levi  Curtis,  Thomas  N.  Flint,  Zebedee  B.  Jones,  John  T.  Nicholas, 
Henry  Y.  Smith,  William  P.  White,  and  Allen  Ward,  the  first  mem- 
bers of  a  new  society.  Other  members  were  added  during  the  suc- 
ceeding months  of  1848,  so  that  by  the  close  of  the  year  there  were 
fifty-three  members.  In  February,  1849,  they  adopted  a  perma- 
nent constitution,  and  the  title,  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  the 
constitution  declaring  that  "Its  object  shall  be  the  dissemination 
of  medical  knowledge,  the  defense  of  the  rights  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  repute  and  dignity  of  the  medical  profession."  In  form 
it  was  somewhat  suggestive  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  with 
senior,  junior  and  honorary  members,  the  only  condition  of  senior 
membership  being  a  degree  from  some  reputable  school  and  a  rep- 
utable standing. 

Its  professional  exercises  were  to  be  directed  by  twelve  sec- 


i.\  PHILADELPHIA. 

lions:  Anatomy,  Surgery,  Obstetrics,  Practice,  Materia  Medica, 
Chemistry,  Physiology,  Medical  Jurisprudence,  Public  Hygiene, 
Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,  Pharmacy  and  Pathology,  and 
all  members  were  to  join  some  section  or  sections,  while  its  regular 
meetings  wore  in  be  on  Saturday  evenings  throughout  1 1  ■  *  -  year, 
excepting'in  midsummer.  The  first  officers  elected  were  as  follows: 
Dr.  James  Bryan,  president;  l>rs.  Charles  M.  Griffith  and  John 
Dawson,  vice-presidents;  Dr.  II.  S.  Porter,  senior  recording  secre- 
tary; Dr.  L.  Gebhard,  junior  recording  secretary;  Dr.  Henry  Y. 
Smith,  corresponding  secretary;  Dr.  William  Gardiner,  treasurer; 
Drs.  A.  II.  Todd  and  William  Bryan,  curators;  Dr.  .lames  Bryan, 
orator;  Dr.  K.  Foster,  alternate;  counselor,  T.  Dunn  English,  Esq. 
A  year  later,  on  February  12,  1850,  the  society  was  incorporated, 
with  ninety-four  members,  with  power  to  "grant  diplomas  of  fel- 
lowship, honorary  membership,  senior  membership,  and  junior 
membership,  but  this  grant  shall  not  be  construed  into  the  gram 
of  any  power  to  confer  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Medicine  or  Doc- 
tor of  Medicine."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  among  these  incor- 
porators was  Dr.  George  P.  Oliver,  who  became  a  member  Septem- 
ber 23,  L848,  and  was  therefore  one  of  the  latest  additions  of  that 
year.  This  was  more  than  four  months  after  the  formation  of 
the  organization.  The  society  does  not  appear  among  those  repre- 
sented in  the  American  Medical  Association,  however,  until  its 
fifth  annual  meeting  at  Richmond  in  1852,  when  Drs.  Henry  Wads- 
worth  and  Samuel  Walsh  (formerly  of  Virginia)  were  received  as 
delegates.  The  next  year  Dr.  James  Bryan  alone  was  its  repre- 
sentative, while  Dr.  Samuel  II.  Meade  and  Dr.  J.  B.  Bell  were  dele- 
gates in  1854.  Dr.  Henry  Y.  Smith  was  a  delegate  in  L855,  but 
there  was  none  the  next  year,  nor  thereafter  until  1872,  when 
Drs.  s.  B.  w.  Mitchell,  II.  W.  Ozias,  and  Alfred  G.  Lteed  were  sent 
Dr.  Bryan  had  once,  soon  after  1855,  attended,  as  a  permanent  mem- 
ber, but  the  society  did  not  liave  a  very  vigorous  existence  from  that 
time  until  after  the  war  closed. 

During  the  revived  activity  of  the  renaissance  in  medicine, 
when  new  colleges  were  springing  up,  it  occurred  to  1m.  George  P. 


344  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Oliver  and  a  few  associates,  members  of  the  old  society,  that 
"Whereas,  the  members  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  believ- 
ing that  the  objects  of  their  association  would  be  greatly  benefited 
by  having  additional  privileges  granted  to  them,  of  appointing  or 
electing  professors  to  lecture  on  the  different  branches  of  medi- 
cine, and  to  confer  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine,"  they  could, 
by  securing  changes  in  their  charter,  completely  transform  the 
organization  into  a  regular  medical  college.  Consequent^*,  oa 
April  10,  1867,  an  amendatory  act  was  secured,  according  to  a 
previous  resolution  of  the  society,  providing  that  "George  P.  Oliver,. 
Charles  M.  Griffith,  Edward  Donnelly,  H.  St.  Clair  Ash  and  George 
H.  Cooke,  Doctors  of  Medicine,  and  members  of  the  said  college,, 
with  their  associates,  are  hereby  empowered  to  meet  on  the  first 
Saturday  in  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixtj'-seven,  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  elect 
such  officers  and  professors  for  said  college  as  may  be  necessary 
for  the  proper  dissemination  of  medical  knowledge  in  all  its  various 
branches,"  and  that  "the  said  officers  and  professors,  by  this  act, 
shall  have  conferred  upon  them  all  the  rights,  immunities  and 
privileges,  as  to  lecturing,  granting  diplomas,  and  conferring 
degrees  in  medicine,  as  are  possessed  by  the  officers  and  professors 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  at  this  time."  The  faculty  so 
ordered  was  composed  of  Drs.  George  P.  Oliver,  J.  A.  Meigs,  J. 
Solis  Cohen,  Edward  Donnelly,  D.  D.  Richardson,  D.  D.  Clark  and 
Samuel  Walsh.  For  various  reasons,  this  faculty  gradually  dis- 
solved and  nothing  was  done  until  about  the  time,  in  1880.  when 
there  was  considerable  activity  throughout  the  profession  in  cor- 
recting abuses  of  various  kinds.  Dr.  Oliver  still  had  the  charter 
and  he  and  others  began  the  formation  of  a  faculty,  of  which  Dr. 
G.  B.  H.  Swayze  was  dean.  The  reorganization  took  place  at  Dr. 
Stubbs'  home,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Jefferson 
streets,  in  October.  Drs.  Oliver,  Stubbs  and  Swayze  were  appointed 
a  committee  to  secure  a  building,  and  they  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  upper  story  of  the  bank  building  on  the  southwest  corner  of 
Broad  and  Market  streets,  opposite  the  Broad  street  station.  On 
April  -1,  1881,  when  arrangements  had  been  made  for  an  embryo 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

hospital,  dispensary,  and  college,  l>r.  Oliver  delivered  ih<-  opening 
address.  The  faculty  for  the  spring  session  consisted  <»i  Drs. 
Oliver  for  Practice,  II.  B.  Goodman  for  Surgery,  ('>.  1>.  If.  Swayze 
for  ( >bste1  pics,  ( I.  B.  S1  abbs  for  A  natomy,  \V.  P.  Waugh  for  Materia 
Medica,  A.  8.  Gerhard  for  Physiology  and  Medical  Jurisprudence, 
jiikI  < '.  L.  Mitchell  for  Chemistry.  There  was  but  a  handful  «>t' 
students,  and  the  faculty  underwent  some  changes  before  th<-  fol- 
lowing autumn,  when  its  first   real  work  began. 

Before  turning  t<>  thai  subject,  however,  it  will  be  of  interest 
to  glance  at  the  real  founder  of  this  institution,  an  organizer  of 
more  than  ordinary  talent.  Dr.  George  P.  Oliver  was  a  Philadel- 
phian,  born  in  L824,  the  son  of  Major  \V.  G.  Oliver,  of  the  t2d 
United  States  [nfantry,  who  served  in  the  War  of  L812.  Dr. 
Oliver,  after  receiving  an  education  in  the  academies  of  the  city, 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  J.  1*.  Bethell,  in  1842.  A  fit-t- 
one year  at  the  medical  department  of  Pennsylvania  College 
(1847-8),  he  entered  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine  in  1850, 
and  graduated  in  1851.  In  1854  he  became  a  resident  at  the 
Philadelphia  Hospital  and  afterward  became  chairman  of  its 
clinical  committee.  In  1859,  he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  in 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  University,  and.  received  his  degree 
from  that  institution,  alter  which  he  spent  the  following  year, 
I860,  in  pursuing  his  studies  in  Europe.  He  had  already,  in  1851, 
begun  practice,  which  was  interrupted  by  a  brief  residence  in 
Cincinnati,  where  he  served  as  city  physician.  In  1861,  he  was 
made  assistant  surgeon  of  the  98th  Volunteers,  but  the  following 
year  was  made  post-surgeon  of  the  111th  Volunteers,  and  served 
for  three  years.  He  was  twice  wounded  and  once  taken  prisoner, 
and  made  an  excellent  record  as  an  army  surgeon.  On  his  return 
he  resumed  practice,  but  in  1878  removed,  tirst  to  New  York  and 
then  to  Brooklyn,  returning  in  L880  to  his  native  city.  It  was  at 
this  time  that  the  new  college  was  begun,  lie  only  lived  four 
years  longer,  his  decease  occurring  on  February  20,  L884,  in  his 
sixtieth  year.  Dr.  Oliver  was  the  life  of  this  institution,  and  was 
active  in  many  others,  being  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Hospital.     In  1881  he  received  the  degree  of 


.346  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Master  of  Arts  from  Westminster  College.  He  also  held  honorary 
degrees  from  several  other  institutions.  "As  a  teacher,"  says  Dr. 
£tubbs,  "he  was  impressive,  clear,  and  particular,  insisting  upon 
the  student's  fixing  the  facts  and  principles  advanced  firmly  in  his 

mind Professor  Oliver  was  a  warm-hearted,  sympathetic 

physician,  to  whom  the  poor  patient  could  look  ever  for  help  and 
counsel  in  time  of  trouble.''  Dr.  Oliver  must  always  be  regarded 
as  having  been  to  the  Medieo-Chirurgical  College  what  Dr.  McClel- 
lan  was  to  Jefferson. 

"The  first  teaching  faculty/'  says  Dr.  J.  M.  Anders,  in  his  his- 
tory of  the  institution,  "consisted  of  George  P.  Oliver,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
President  of  the  College,  and  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Prac- 
tice of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery;  George  E.  Stubbs,  A.  M., 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery;  Charles  L. 
Mitchell,  Ph.  D.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Sanitary  Science 
and  Medical  Jurisprudence;  William  F.  Waugh,  M.  D.,  Professor 
of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine ; 
Abraham  S.  Gerhard,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physiology,  Path- 
ology and  Clinical  Medicine;  William  S.  Stewart,  M.  D.,  Dean,  and 
Professor  of  Obstetrics,  Gynecology,  and    Clinical    Gynecology; 
Prank  O.  Nagle,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Therapeutics 
and  Clinical  Medicine.     The  opening  address  of  the  first  regular 
session  of  the  College  was  delivered  April  1,  1881  (beginning  of 
the  spring  course),  by  Professor  Oliver,  who  took  occasion  to  define 
the  policy  of  the  school,  announcing  that  it  would  adhere  to  the 
aims  of  its  founders,  and  that  it  would  adopt  the  methods  of  higher 
medical  education,  and  the  graded  three-session  course  of  study. 
Touching  these  points,  I  prefer  to  quote  his  own  words:  'It  is  the 
intention  of  the  faculty  to  use  every  means  that  can  be  made 
available  to  advance  students  and  to  render  them  proficient  in  the 
duties  of  their  profession.     We  deprecate  the  system  of  cramming, 
now  in  use  in  many  medical  colleges,  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
tiw,  crowding  into  two  winter  sessions   the  entire  medical  tuition 
of  the  student.     Owing  to  the  shortness  of  time,  sufficient  instruc- 
tion cannot  be  given,  and  the  student  fails  to  complete  his  medical 
education  properly.     With  a  view  of  elevating  the  standard  of 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

medical  education,  our  college  has  adopted  o  curriculum  embrac- 
ing a  lull  three-years  graded  course.  By  iliis  action  we  believe 
we  will  assist  in  placing  some  safeguards  around  society  that  ait 
being  sadly  neglected  by  many  medical  colleges  in  America.'  Ili> 
masterful  address  closed  with  these  encouraging  and  inspiring 
sentiments:  'To  both  old  and  young,  in  out-  profession,  who  are 
resting  satisfied  with  the  laurels  already  gained  in  former  days, 

we  desire  to  Say,  fall   in  line  and   march   to  (he  front;  ;i>si>t    your' 

brethren  to  break  down  the  formidable  barricades  that  have  been 
erected  by  unscrupulous  men,  who  have  almost  ran  their  course, 
but  who  are  still  attempting  to  conl  rol  t  he  deal  iny  of  our  profession. 
To  our  friends  who  have  honored  us  with  their  presence  to-day,  we 
tender  the  thanks  of  grateful  hearts.  We  feel  that  our  suc< 
will  not  depend  upon  ourselves  alone;  much  will  be  due  to  the 
encouragement  we  receive  from  those  who  are  in  full  sympathy 
with  us.  Give  our  college  and  our  sister  colleges,  who  are  engaged 
in  this  noble  work,  your  aid  and  counsel,  and  the  great  object  will, 
in  a  short  time,  be  effected.  We  know  we  will  have  a  severe 
struggle  at  first,  but  we  are  determined  to  hold  on,  even  though 
we  have  to  fight  the  battle  alone.  Other  colleges  may  falter,  as 
one  in  New  York  already  has,  but  with  the  full  assurance  that  we 
are  doing  right,  we  intend,  with  the  assistance  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, to  persevere  manfully  until  victory  shall  crown  our  efforts.' 
"The  original  faculty  continued  unbroken  until  the  death  of  I  >r. 
Nagle  in  1S84.  During  the  first  session,  thirty-one  students  were  in 
attendance,  during  the  second  twenty-seven,  and  during  the  third 
session  (1S83-S4),  only  twenty-four  students.  The  first  class  was 
graduated  March  10,  1882,  and  consisted  of  three  men.  The  vale- 
dictory address  wras  delivered  by  Professor  Charles  K.  Mitchell, 
Professor  of  Chemistry.  It  was  determined  to  make  a  stand  for 
higher  medical  education  from  the  outset.  This  principle,  be  it 
remembered,  was  affirmed  at  a  time  when  but  two  sessions,  with- 
out regard  to  grading  of  the  course  of  instruction,  were  required 
by  the  many  medical  institutions,  a  fact,  to  which  may  be  right- 
fully attributed  the  comparatively  slow  growth  of  the  College 
during  the  first  few  years  of  its  existence.     From  its  inception, 


348  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

too,  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  was  in  all  other  respects  in 
the  van  of  progress.  Thus,  candidates  for  admission  were  required 
to  pass  a  preliminary  examination;  attendance  of  the  students  was 
required  at  the  College  six  hours  per  day;  and  no  student  was 
admitted  to  advanced  standing,  until  he  had  passed  a  satisfactory 
examination  in  the  branches  of  the  preceding  grade.  The  autumn 
term  began  the  first  Monday  in  September,  during  which  the 
instruction  was  elementary  and  preliminary  to  that  of  the  winter 
term,  which  commenced  on  the  first  Monday  in  October,  aaid  was 
continued  for  six  months.  The  policy  of  this  school  embraced, 
thus  early,  certain  important  and  distinguishing  characteristics, 
and,  to  render  appreciable  in  some  measure  the  genius  loci  of  the 
institution,  a  few  of  the  original  and  progressive  features  intro- 
duced from  time  to  time  may  here  be  mentioned.  Besides  didactic 
and  clinical  lectures,  laboratory  work,  and  practical  training  at 
the  bedside,  forming  an  exceptionally  advanced  course  of  study,  the 
old  college  year  embraced  from  the  outset  a  spring,  or  auxiliary, 
literary  term  of  three  months,  beginning  on  the  first  Monday  in 
April.  This  was  especially  designed  for  students  whose  qualifica- 
tions were  not  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  fully  comprehend  the 
didactic  and  the  clinical  lectures  of  the  regular  winter  term.  Dur- 
ing this  session  instruction  was  given  in  Natural  Philosophy, 
Botany,  Physical  Geography,  Mental  Philosophy,  Principles  of 
English  Composition,  Elements  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Languages, 
Mathematics,  Comparative  Anatomy,  and  Zoology,  Mineralogy  and 
Geology.  Another  conception  of  the  founders  of  this  school  related 
to  the  supreme  importance  of  personal  instruction  of  the  students 
by  the  members  of  the  faculty.  The  first  faculty  daily  conducted 
personal  examinations,  or  quizzes,  of  the  classes,  on  the  subjects 
of  the  preceding  lectures,  thus  fixing  permanently  in  the  minds  of 
the  students  the  instruction  previously  given.  This  method  of 
teaching  also  furnished  opportunity  for  essential  explanations  by 
the  professors  themselves  of  any  truths  not  clearly  understood. 
So  valuable  an  adjunct  did  this  measure  prove  that  it  has  been 
continued  down  to  the  present  time.  Moreover,  the  recognition 
of  the  superior  advantages  of  personal  iustruction  over  the  old 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

method  of  didactic  Lectures  early  Led  the  authorities  of  the  Medico- 
Ghirurgical  College  i«»  abandon  the  traditional  Lectured  for  reci- 
tation and  personal  Laboratory  and  dissection-room  work.  Lndeed, 
it  may  be  claimed  thai  the  phenomenal  growth  and  development 
of  this  insiihit i(»ii  has  been,  in  do  small  measure,  due  to  the  thor- 
ough execution  of  tliis  primal  conception,  \\/..:  Thai  personal 
instruction  not  only  enables  the  teacher  to  imparl  lads,  but,  also, 
to  furnish  the  reasons  upon  which  those  facts  are  founded.  The 
trend  of  thought  of  the  faculty  of  the  Medico-ChirurgicaJ  College, 
at  the  presenl  time,  leans  strongly  in  the  direction  of  the  seminar 
method  of  instruct  ion  a  method  that  enables  the  studenl  to  under- 
stand the  facts  imparted  to  him,  and,  what  is  of  no  small  impor- 
tance, enables  the  teacher  to  determine  the  amount  of  work  actually 
performed  by  the  student,  and  the  quantity  of  practical  knowledge 
acquired.  This  mode  of  teaching  is  about,  to  be  applied  by  the 
Medico-Chirurgical  College  to  all  of  the  branches  embraced  in  the 
curriculum.  Here  should  be  mentioned  the  fact  that,  at  the  time 
ef  the  reorganization,  there  was  established  a  system  of  quizzes, 
free  of  charge,  and  this  has  been  continued  until  the  present  time. 
They  are  conducted  by  the  professors,  assisted  by  competent  tutors; 
i  heir  object  is  twofold,  first  to  remove  the  expense  of  private  quizz<  s. 
and.  secondly,  to  prepare  the  students  thoroughly  for  their  life's 
work  on  all  of  the  branches. 

•'To  show  the  confidence  of  the  pioneers  of  this  institution  in 
the  practical  value  of  laboratory  training  in  the  basal  sciences, 
and  of  practical  work  in  surgery,  as  a  means  of  qualifying  the 
student  for  exact  work,  courses  in  the  following  branches  were 
given:  Practical  Pharmacy,  Analytic  Chemistry,  Practical  Anat- 
omy, Histology,  Pathologic  Histology,  and  Operative  Surgerj  and 
Bandaging." 

In  prominent  connection  with  the  dental  and  hospital  depart- 
ments was  Dr.  James  E.  Garretson,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S.,  who  was 
long  associated  with  Agnew  in  the  School  of  Anatomy.  A  native 
of  Wilmington,  Delaware,  he  was  born  in  October,  L828.  During 
his  youth  he  became  interested  in  dentistry  and  graduated  from 
tie-  Philadelphia  Dental  College  in  1857.     Realizing  the  medical 


350  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

relations  of  dentistry,  lie  also  graduated  in  medicine  from  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  in  1859.  It  was  then  that  Dr.  Agnew 
secured  him  as  an  associate  in  the  School  of  Anatomy,  of  which 
he  took  sole  charge  on  Dr.  Agnew's  withdrawal  to  the  University 
work  a  few  years  later.  About  this  time  he  began  to  make  a 
specialty  of  the  surgery  of  the  mouth  and  neighboring  parts  and 
soon  became  widely  known  as  an  "oral  surgeon."  In  1869  he  took 
the  chair  of  Oral  Surgery  in  the  University  and  had  charge  of  its- 
oral  hospital  service.  Nine  years  later  he  was  chosen  Professor 
of  Anatomy  and  Surgery  in  the  Philadelphia  Dental  College,  of 
which  he  became  dean  in  1881.  In  this  position  and  as  a  founder 
of  the  hospital  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  he  rendered  great 
service  to  the  institution.  He  died  October  26,  1895,  best  known, 
probably,  by  his  work,  "A  System  of  Oral  Surgery."  Dr.  Garret- 
son  achieved  distinction  in  other  than  the  scientific  fields  of  litera- 
ture, and  is  perhaps  as  well  known  to  the  general  public  by  his 
"Odd  Hours  of  a  Physician"  and  other  books,  as  he  is  to  the  profes- 
sion by  his  surgical  treatises. 

Previous  to  the  changes  above  mentioned,  there  came  to  the 
faculty  men  who  infused  into  it  such  a  spirit  of  energy  as  to  insti- 
tute the  beginning  of  a  new  period  in  its  development.  One  of 
these  was  the  late  Dr.  William  H.  Pancoast,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  who 
came  from  Jefferson  Medical  College,  where  he  had  been  Professor 
of  Anatomy  for  the  eleven  years  since  his  father's  resignation. 
Dr.  Pancoast  was  fifty  years  of  age  when  he  joined  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  College  in  1885.  He  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  born 
in  1835,  and  was  educated  in  Haverford  College,  from  which  he 
received  his  diploma  in  1853.  He  had  studied  medicine  under  his 
distinguished  father,  Joseph  Pancoast,  and  was  graduated  from 
Jefferson  Medical  College  in  1856.  Going  abroad,  he  spent  three 
years  in  the  hospitals  and  other  medical  institutions  of  London, 
Paris,  Vienna  and  Berlin,  and  pursued  special  work  under  Civiale, 
who  desired  him  to  remain  as  his  assistant.  In  1862,  however,  he 
returned  to  Philadelphia  and  became  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy 
in  the  school,  in  which  he  succeeded  his  father  in  1874.  In  1885, 
on  his  resignation  from  Jefferson,  he  was  contemplating  an  ex- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  .;;,) 

leaded   visit  abroad,  when  be  was  induced   to  join   the   Medico- 
Chirargical  College.    The  chair  he  accepted  was,  as  a  matter  of 

course,  similar  t<»  thai  which  he  had  occupied  at  Jefferson.  He 
;m  once  became  one  of  the  greatesl  powers  in  the  new  developments 
of  the  school,  and  soon  became  president  of  its  board  of  trustees. 
"Dr.  Pancoast,"  says  one  of  his  biographers,  "was  a  man  of  strik- 
ing personality,  of  courtly  manners  ami  greatly  beloved  by  his 
students  and  friends.  As  a  lecturer  on  anatomy  he  was  pre- 
eminent, and  as  an  operator  he  was  equally  successful."  During 
the  civil  war  he  was  surgeon-in-chief  and  second  in  command  at 
one  of  the  military  hospitals.  lie  was  surgeon  to  the  Philadel- 
phia Hospital  for  many  years  and  was  prominent  in  nearly  all  the 
leading  medical  societies  of  Philadelphia.  lie  was  especially  act- 
ive in  the  count}7,  state  and  national  societies,  and  was  rice-presi- 
dent of  the  American  Medical  Association  in  1884,  and  delegate 
to  various  international  congresses.  Dr.  Pancoast  died  in  Janu- 
ary, 1807,  having  lived  long  enough  to  witness  the  remarkable 
development  of  the  school  of  which  he  was  so  great  a  promoter. 

Just  before  Dr.  Pancoast  came  to  the  institution,  Dr.  Henry 
Ernest  Goodman  was  called  to  the  chair  made  vacant  by  the  deal  li 
of  Dr.  Oliver.  A  glance  at  the  career  of  this  man,  also  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  institution,  will  be  of  interest  before  attention  is 
directed  to  the  latter.  Dr.  Goodman  was  of  German  descent, 
grandson  of  an  officer  in  our  Revolutionary  Army  of  '76.  A  native 
of  Speedwell,  near  Philadelphia,  he  was  boru  in  1836,  so  that  he 
was  almost  the  exact  age  of  Dr.  Pancoast.  He  graduated  from 
the  University  Medical  School  in  1859,  in  the  same  class  with  Dr. 
Oliver,  and  also  became  a  resident  in  the  (Philadelphia)  Block  ley 
Hospital.  On  completing  his  term,  he  became  a  resident  at  Wills 
Hospital,  where  he  became  interested  in  the  specialty  to  which  he 
devoted  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  after  life.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  Orthopaedic  Hospital  from  its  opening 
until  his  death.  He  held  many  public  positions,  as  well.  Thus 
for  six  years  he  served  as  port  physician.  "In  188V  says  Dr. 
Anders  in  a  memoir  before  the  College  of  Physicians,  "he  was 
made  Professor  of  Surgery  at  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  a 


352  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

position  he  filled  most  worthily  and  acceptably  for  six  years.  His 
lectures  were  noteworthy  for  their  perspicuity,  as  well  as  for  the 
safety  and  soundness  of  their  substance.  As  a  teacher  he  was 
concise  yet  expressed  fully  enough  the  truths  he  wished  to  impart, 
while  his  sympathetic  nature  and  warmth  of  manner  quickly  led 
to  the  establishment  of  pleasant  personal  relations  between  him- 
self and  his  students."  He  was  a  member  of  various  leading  soci- 
eties and  did  eminent  service  in  the  civil  war,  acting  as  surgeon  to 
the  28th  Pennsylvania  Infantry  from  1861  to  1864,  and  becoming 
Medical  Director  of  the  Army  of  Georgia,  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
Dr.  Goodman  lived  to  the  age  of  sixty  years,  his  death  occurring 
on  February  3, 1896,  and  he  was  in  his  fiftieth  year  when  he  joined 
the  faculty  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College. 

"In  1885,"  says  Dr.  Anders,  "the  late  Dr.  H.  Ernest  Goodman 
was  chosen  to  succeed  Dr.  Oliver,  as  Professor  of  Surgery  and 
Clinical  Surgery.  At  this  period,  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College 
joined  forces  with  the  Philadelphia  Dental  College,  and  procured 
buildings  more  commodious  and  appropriate  for  the  uses  of  both 
institutions.  The  site  selected  was  the  north  side  of  Cherry  street, 
below  Eighteenth  street,  the  same  as  that  occupied  by  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  College  and  Hospital  at  the  present  time.  From  the 
year  1886  up  to  1895,  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  and  the  Phila- 
delphia Dental  College  constituted  a  firm,  so  to  speak,  with  equal 
rights  and  privileges,  so  far  as  appertained  to  the  direction  and 
control  of  the  buildings,  while,  at  the  same  time,  maintaining  a 
separate  existence,  as  institutions  of  medical  and  dental  learning. 
In  1895  it  was  mutually  agreed  to  dissolve  the  previous  business 
relations  that  had  existed  between  the  two  institutions,  this  action 
to  take  effect  at  the  end  of  the  session  of  1896-97,  and,  since  the 
latter  date,  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  has  assumed  the  owner- 
ship of  the  entire  property,  consisting  of  a  number  of  buildings, 
all  devoted  to  hospital  and  college  purposes. 

"In  1885,  such  well-known  teachers  as  the  late  Dr.  William  H. 
Pancoast,  Profs.  John  V.  Shoemaker  and  E.  E.  Montgomery  en- 
tered the  faculty,  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College.  Prof. 
Shoemaker,  who  for  several  years  had  lectured  on  diseases   of 


l\   PHILADELPHIA. 

the  skin  in  the  post-graduate  course  of  the  Jefferson  Medical  Col- 
lege, was  elected  Professor  of  Dermatology  in  the  Medico-Chirur- 
gieal  ( Jollege,  and,  Boon  after,  also  t<>  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica 
and  Therapeutics.  The  Philadelphia  Hospital  for  Skin  D 
under  his  charge,  with  all  its  appurtenances,  was  transferred  to 
the  aew  location  ;n  Cherry  Btreet,  and  there  continued  with 
increased  accommodations,  as  ;i  departmenl  of  the  Medico- 
Ohirurgica]  College  and  Hospital.  Dr.  E.  E.  Montgomery  was 
elected  Professor  of  Gynecology,  a  separate  chair  having  been 
created  for  him,  and  this  importanl  departmenl  became  a  special 
feature  of  the  course.  A1  this  time,  the  Hospital  of  Oral  Surgery, 
under  Professor  G-arretson,  was  also  merged  into  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Hospital,  and  there  continued  t<>  hold  its  unrivaled 
clinics  in  that  specialty.  These  gentlemen,  from  the  momenl  they 
became  connected  with  the  school,  displayed  much  energy  and 
financial  courage,  and,  by  their  exertions,  rendered  it  possible  for 
the  institution  to  consummate  the  removal  t»>  the  present  sin-. 
Professor  Pancoast,  who  brought  with  him  liis  extensive  and 
valuable  Anatomical  and  Pathological  Museum,  which  was  col- 
lected during  many  years  by  his  father  and  himself,  and  subse- 
quently freely  used  in  illustration  of  his  lectures,  was  al  once 
elected  to  the  presidency  of  the  College,  and  many  examples  could 
be  cited  to  show  his  great  ardor,  zeal,  and  genius,  as  the  leader 
of  the  new  combination,  striving  to  wrest  from  a  conservative 
public,  professional  and  popular  applause  and  favor.  Resting 
confidently  upon  the  wise  and  comprehensive  basis  upon  width 
the  school  was  reorganized  by  the  founders,  and  under  the  impetus 
given  to  the  institution  by  the  gentlemen  named  above,  the  Medi<  o- 
ChirurgicaJ  College  moved  forward  with  remarkable  vigor  in  the 
fa<-e  of  many  discouraging  influences.  Fresh  additions  to  the 
faculty  followed,  consisting,  for  the  greater  part,  of  young,  able 
and  energetic  men. 

"The  list  of  professors  from  the  date  of  reorganization  is,  for 
the  various  chairs,  as  follows:  The  chair  of  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  clinical  Medicine,  Hugo  Engel,  .\.  M.. 
M.  D.,  1881-83;  William  P.  Waugh,  A.  M.,  M.  I  >..  L883-91 :  James  M. 


354  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Anders,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1891.  The  chair  of  Surgery  and  Clinical 
Surgery  was  first  occupied  by  George  P.  Oliver,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  in 
1881-84;  H.  Ernest  Goodman,  M.  D.,  1881-91;  Ernest  Laplace, 
M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1891.  The  chair  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics, 
William  F.  Waugh,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1881-82;  Frank  O.  Nagle,  A.  M., 
M.  D.,  1882-81;  Frank  Woodbury,  M.  D.,  1881-89;  John  V.  Shoe- 
maker, M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Pharmacology 
and  Therapeutics,  1889.  The  chair  of  Obstetrics,  Gynecology  and 
Clinical  Gynecology,  George  B.  H.  Swayze,  M.  D.,  1881  (during 
preliminary  term);  William  S.  Stewart,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1881-91; 
E.  E.  Montgomery,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1881-92;  W.  Frank  Haehnlen, 
M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  1892.  Gynecology,  E.  E.  Montgomery,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
1886-92;  W.  Easterly  Ashton,  M.  D.,  1892.  The  chair  of  Clinical 
Medicine,  Frank  Woodbury,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1891-91;  William  E. 
Hughes,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  1891.  Clinical  Surgery,  George  E.  Stubbs, 
A.  M.,  M.  D.  (including  surgical  pathology),  1886-92.  William  H. 
Pancoast,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Clinical  Surgery, 
1893-97;  William  L.  Eodman,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Princi- 
ples of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery.  Ophthalmology,  P.  D.  Key- 
ser,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1881-93;  L.  Webster  Fox,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1893. 
Anatomy,  George  E.  Stubbs,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1881-86;  William  H. 
Pancoast,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  General  Descriptive  and  Surgi- 
cal Anatomy,  18S6-97;  John  C.  Heisler,  M.  D.,  1897.  Physiology 
and  Medical  Jurisprudence,  Abraham  S.  Gerhard,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
1881-86;  Thomas  C.  Stelwagen,  A.  Iff.,  M.  D.  (Physiology  only),  1886- 
89;  Samuel  Wolfe,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  (lecturer),  1889-90;  Samuel  Wolfe, 
A.  M.,  M.  D.  (professor),  1S90-93;  Henry  T.  Slifer,  M.  D.,  1893-91; 
Isaac  Ott,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1891.  The  chair  of  Chemistry,  Charles  L. 
Mitchell,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  1881-86;  S.  B.  Howell,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  1886-93; 
H.  H.  Boom,  M.  D.  (adjunct  professor),  1893-97;  J.  H.  Meeker,  B.  S., 
M.  S.,  1897.  Pathology — This  chair  was  held  by  different  lecturers 
up  to  1886,  but  as  some  of  the  records  are  missing,  their  names  can- 
not be  furnished.  Abraham  S.  Gerhard,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Pathology,  Medical  Jurisprudence  and  Clinical  Medicine,  1886-90; 
Ernest  Laplace,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Pathology  and  Bac- 
teriology, 1890-96;  Joseph  MacFarland,    M.  D.,    1896.     Sanitary 


IX  PHILADELPHIA.  355 

Science  and  Pediatrics,  William  B.Atkinson,  A.  .M.,  .M.  I  >..  L88 t-89; 
James  M.  Anders,  M.  I>.,  LL.  D.,  L889-92;  Charles  .M.  Seltzer,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Bygiene,  L892-93;  Seneca  Egbert,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  L893. 
In  1893  the  authorities  made  ;i  progressive  departure  in  the  estab- 
lishment <>f  ;i  Board  of  Censors,  composed  of  well-known  physi- 
cians. A  certificate  of  successful  examination,  as  directed  by  the 
faculty,  before  one  of  these  gentlemen,  is  sufficient  for  admission  to 
the  si  ady  of  medicine  in  the  <  Jollege. 

"As  I  have  already  stated,  the  College  occupied,  during  the  firsl 
tiv<>  years  of  its  existence,  the  upper  stories  of  the  Thin  I  National 
Bank  building,  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Broad  and  Market 
streets.  Here  the  facilities  and  accommodations  offered  to  the  stu- 
dent, were  plainly  inadequate.  In  L886  the  valuable  property  on 
the  north  side  of  Cherry  street,  east  of  Eighteenth  street  (a  build- 
ing earlier  known  as  the  Home  for  Aged  and  Indigent  Women), 
was  so  altered  as  to  meet  the  requirements  of  a  modern  hospital, 
and  was  under  the  joint  control  of  the  faculties  of  the  two  schools 
named  above.  Its  inmates,  then,  as  now,  furnished  the  means  of 
supplying  the  major  clinics,  and  of  imparting  bedside  instruction 
to  the  student.  At  this  time  the  hospital  staff  was  composed  of 
members  of  the  medical  and  dental  faculties  and  with  equal  repre- 
sentation. Upon  the  severing  of  the  relations  of  the  two  schools, 
the  staff  was  made  up  of  representatives  from  the  major  and  minor 
faculties  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  alone.  Sufficient  adja- 
cent property  was  purchased  at  the  outset  to  erect  thereon  a  col- 
lege building,  containing  three  spacious  lecture  halls  or  amphi- 
theaters, including  a  magnificent  clinical  amphitheater.  These 
were  well  lighted,  ventilated,  and  furnished  with  comfortable 
chairs  for  the  students.  The  upper  floor  of  the  south  side  of  this 
structure  was  furnished  as  a  dissecting-room,  with  every  needed 
appliance.  This  was  leased  by  the  Philadelphia  School  of  Anat- 
omy, with  the  distinct  proviso  that  the  students  of  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  College  and  of  the  Philadelphia  Dental  College  be 
privileged  to  dissect  therein,  under  certain  express  terms  and  regu- 
lations. It  may  be  mentioned  here  that  Immediately  after  the  sep- 
aration of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  and  Philadelphia  Dental  Colleges, 


350  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  dissecting-room  reverted  to  the  latter  institution.  Within  the 
ample  confines  of  the  College  and  hospital  adequate  space  was 
found  for  the  histologic,  pathological,  bacteriologic  and  chemical 
laboratories,  all  of  which  were  at  once  properly  equipped.  It  was 
soon  discovered,  however,  that  by  reason  of  a  lack  of  accommoda- 
tions it  would  be  necessary  to  enlarge  the  hospital  building,  and  to 
this  end  it  was,  in  1890,  determined  to  reconstruct  the  same  on  a 
larger  scale.  As  a  result,  the  original  hospital  was  replaced  by  an 
extensive  six-story  building,  which  doubled  its  former  capacity — 
a  proceeding  'that  marked  a  second  peculiarly  eventful  period  in 
the  history  of  the  institution,  the  first  being  the  purchase  of  the 
site  now  occupied,  and  the  removal  of  it  from  Broad  street.'  The 
plans  called  for  an  extension  of  the  hospital  buildings,  twenty  feet 
to  the  front,  and  the  addition  of  two  new  stories.  The  hospital 
was  then  thoroughly  equipped  with  the  most  modem  conveniences 
for  lighting,  heating,  drainage  and  ventilation.  After  the  comple- 
tion of  these  alterations,  the  hospital  afforded  accommodation  for 
not  less  than  126  beds  for  patients;  the  two  upper  floors  have  been 
devoted  to  private  rooms  (twenty  in  number)  for  the  reception  of 
patients.  Although  the  Medico-Chirurgical  Hospital  is  located  to 
the  west  of  the  College  building,  it  is  connected  with  the  latter  by 
an  L  posteriorly,  so  that  the  two  buildings  are  virtually  one.  And 
now,  for  a  time,  both  the  new  College  building  and  the  newly-remod- 
eled hospital  seemed  to  afford  ample  facilities,  and  to  possess  great 
adaptability  to  the  purposes  of  medical  teaching  and  hospital 
work.  With  the  steady  growth  of  the  medical  school,  and  the  con- 
stantly increasing  demands  for  hospital  accommodations,  it  was 
again  found  needful  to  provide  increased  building  accommoda- 
tions. In  view  of  this  fact,  six  properties,  located  at  the  northeast 
corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Cherry  streets,  were  purchased  singly, 
though  in  quick  succession,  and  devoted  to  the  maternity  depart- 
ment of  the  College,  the  children's  ward  of  the  hospital  and  the 
laboratories.  The  capacity  of  the  hospital  buildings  was  thereby 
increased  from  126  to  200  patients,  the  maternity  department 
alone  having  forty  beds.  A  little  later,  the  property  extending 
from  the  College  to  the  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Cherrv  streets 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

was  ;ilso  purchased,  and  it  has  been  determined  t<>  erect  thereon, 
immediately,  a  large  laboratory  building,  suitably  arranged  in  its 
details  for  teaching  purposes.  In  consequence  of  these  repeated 
acquisitions  of  property,  the  planl  grew  until  ii  covered  an 
extensive  superficial  area,  extending  from  Eighteenth  street  to 
Seventeenth  Btreet  <>n  Cherry  street,  L20  feel  northward  on  the  east 
side  of  Eighteenth  street,  and  •  '><>  feel  Qorthward  on  the  west  side  of 
Seventeenth  street.  The  rapid  progress  of  scientific  thought  con- 
cerning asepsis  having  made  ii  imperative  to  surround  surgical 
operations  with  certain  definite  conditions,  particularly  if  tin*  lat- 
ter be  performed  in  the  presence  of  large  numbers  of  medical  stu- 
dents, the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Medico-ChirurgieaJ  Hospital 
have  recently  erected  ;i  new  clinical  amphitheater  and  operating- 
rooms,  designed  to  fulfill  the  most  advanced  surgical  and  educa- 
tional requirements.  It  is  believed  to  b<>  the  most  perfect,  as  well 
as  the  largest,  clinical  amphitheater  that  has  yet  been  erected, 
either  in  the  United  states  or  Europe.  In  L892  there  were 
admitted  to,  and  treated  in,  the  wards  and  rooms  of  the  hospitals, 
585  patients;  in  the  receiving  ward,  774  so-called  'accident'  cases, 
and  in  the  out-patient  department,  or  dispensary  service,  5,537 
cases.  In  1896,  the  number  of  patients  admitted  to  the  wards  and 
private  rooms  was  1,242;  the  number  of  'accident*  cases  treated 
was  2,036,  while  in  the  out-patient  department,  there  were  treated 
not  less  than  '*7,!M)7  cases.  During  the  session  of  1891-2  the  num- 
ber <d"  matriculates  was  122,  while  during  the  term  of  1896-97  the 
number  was  :>(>3. 

"The  college  has  recently  adopted  a  four-session,  graded  course 
of  instruction,  with  special  features,  looking  to  the  establishment 
of  the  'seminar'  method,  so  as  to  afford  the  greatest  possible  oppor- 
tunity for  individual  investigation  by  the  student,  ami  for  per- 
sona] examination  by  the  teacher  in  sections  of  (lasses,  in  L897, 
the  institution,  having  become  independent  of  the  Philadelphia 
Dental  College,  Owing  to  the  removal  of  the  latter  to  its  present 
site,  lias  established  its  own  dental  department." 

The  present  teaching  force  is  composed  as  follows:  John  V. 
Shoemaker,  M.  i >.,  LL.  !>.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica,  Pharma- 


358  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

cology  and  Therapeutics;  James  M.  Anders,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Ph.  D., 
Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medi- 
cine; Ernest  Laplace,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Surgery  and 
Clinical  Surgery;  W.  Frank  Haehnlen,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of 
Obstetrics;  W.  Easterly  Ashton,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology; 
L.  Webster  Fox,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology;  William 
E.  Hughes,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine;  William 
L.  Kodman,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Principles  of  Surgery 
and  Clinical  Surgery;  Isaac  Ott,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physi- 
ology; Seneca  Egbert,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Hygiene;  Joseph 
McFarland,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Pathology  and  Bacteriology; 
Charles  E.  de  M.  Sajous,  M.  D.,  Dean,  Professor  of  Laryngology; 
John  C.  Heisler,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  J.  H.  Meeker,  B.  S., 
M.  S.,  Professor  of  Cheniistiw.  Emeritus  and  honorary  professors: 
George  E.  Stubbs,  A.  M.,  M.  D.;  William  S.  Stewart,  A.  M.,  M.  D.; 
W.  B.  Atkinson,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  Clinical  and  assistant  professors: 
John  V.  Shoemaker,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of  Skin  and 
Venereal  Diseases;  Charles  W.  Burr,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Pro- 
fessor of  Nervous  Diseases;  W.  C.  Hollopeter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Clinical 
Professor  of  Children's  Diseases;  Arthur  H.  Cleveland,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
Clinical  Professor  of  Laryngology;  E.  B.  Gleason,  M.  D.,  Clinical 
Professor  of  Otology;  James  P.  Mann,  M.  D.,  Clinical  Professor  of 
Orthopedic  Surgery;  Benjamin  T.  Shimwell,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Surgery;  Albert  E.  Ifoussel,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Pro- 
fessor of  Practice  and  Clinical  Medicine;  Spencer  Morris,  Ph.  D., 
M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence;  Henry  Fisher, 
Ph.  G.,  M.  D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Phar- 
macy. Lecturers  and  Instructors :  Spencer  Morris,  M.  D.,  Lecturer 
on  Differentia]  Diagnosis;  Emanuel  S.  Gans,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on 
Skin  Diseases;  Michael  O'Hara,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Minor  Sur- 
gery and  Bandaging;  Howard  S.  Anders,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  and 
Clinical  Instructor  on  Physical  Diagnosis;  I.  N.  Snively,  Lecturer 
on  Physical  Diagnosis;  W.  N.  Watson,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Genito- 
urinary Diseases;  George  W.  Pfromm,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Thera- 
peutics and  Materia  Medica  and  Clinical  Diagnosis;  Charles  L. 
Furbush,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Histology  and  Director  of  the  Histo- 


!\   PHILADELPHIA. 

logic  Laboratory;  C.  II.  Gubbins,  Ph.  I>.,  M.  I »..  [nstructor  in 
Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy;  Henry  Parrish,  .M.  !>.,  [nstructor 
in  Physiology;  Philip  \i.  Olea/ver,  .M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Surgery; 
Matthew  Beardwood,  Jr.,  A.  M.,  M.  !>.,  [nstructor  in  Chemistry; 
J.  O.  1  [erschelrol  h,  M.  I  >.,  [nstructor  in  Medicine;  N.  Napoleon  Bos- 
ton, [nstructor  in  Obstetrics;  B.  r.  Kamerly,  Jr.,  M.  I  >..  [nstructor 
in  Ophthalmology;  P.  K.  Brown,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  I  Ophthal- 
moscopy; Alexander  Ramsay,  M.  I  >.,  [nstructor  in  Children's  ha- 
rases; L  ( '.  Peter,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Neurology;  R.  I  >.  New- 
ton, M.  P.,  Instructor  in  Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica.  Dem- 
onstrators: -I.  Thompson  Schell,  M.  D.,  Demonsl  rator  of  <  >bstel  pics; 
Walter  V.  Woods,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  in  Gynecology;  \\ .  Wayne 
Babcock,  Demonstrator  of  Pathology;  Joseph  D.  Wallace,  M.  D., 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy;  Edwin  II.  Miller,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator 
of  Hygiene,  and  E.  F.  Kamerly,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Oph- 
thalmology. The  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  as  has  been  seen,  is 
wholly  a  product  of  the  present  period,  and  in  the  rapidity  ami 
vigor  of  its  growth  is  probably  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of 
medical  schools. 

The  four  medical  schools  in  existence  in  1881-2,  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  Medieo-Chirurgieal  College,  were  covering  the  conven- 
tional ground  of  medical  instruction,  but  that  instruction  had 
recently  made  such  strides  in  progress  that  many  older  practition- 
ers found  that  post-graduate  work  was  almost  a  necessity  in  order 
to  keep  abreast  with  medical  progress.  Furthermore,  the  growl  h  of 
specialization  had  become  so  remarkable  in  its  proportions,  and 
the  call  for  special  knowledge  so  frequent,  that  interest  in  post-grad- 
uate work  was  widespread.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  L882  that  1m-. 
John  B.  Roberts,  finding  himself  free  from  his  School  of  Anatomy, 
conceived  the  idea  of  a  combined  hospital  and  specialist  school, 
where  graduates  in  medicine  might  spend  such  lime  as  they  chose 
under  the  personal  instruction  of  a  specialist.  Gathering  friends 
about  him  in  sympathy  with  the  purpose,  a  meeting  was  held  at 
the  residence  of  in-.  K.  .1.  Levis,  at  1601  Walnul  street,  where  it 
was  decided  to  form  such  an  institution.  "The  institution,  of  whose 
early  history  I  have  been  asked   to  give  a  brief  history,"  said    Dr. 


360  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Roberts,  at  the  ceremonies  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the  new 
building,  in  November,  1889,  "was  born  on  a  December  morning, 
in  1882,  when  I  suggested  to  the  distinguished  surgeon,  now  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Trustees  (e),  the  establishment  of  an  institu- 
tion for  post-graduate  medical  instruction,  to  be  called  the  Phila- 
delphia Polyclinic.  The  idea,  which  had  long  occupied  my  mind, 
had  been  partially  realized  some  years  before,  in  the  practical 
courses  in  anatomy,  surgery,  physical  diagnosis,  chemistry,  dis- 
eases of  the  eye,  diseases  of  the  throat,  etc.,  carried  on  at  the  Phila- 
delphia School  of  Anatomy  by  Drs.  Henry  Leffmann,  H.  Augustus 
Wilson  and  ni3Tself,  with  a  number  of  associates.  Dr.  Levis  accepted 
my  suggestion  with  favor,  and  within  a  few  minutes  called  upon 
Dr.  T.  G.  Morton,  who,  with  his  usual  energy,  cordially  approved 
the  project.  Upon  that  day,  or  the  next,  Dr.  J.  Solis-Cohen  was 
asked  by  Dr.  Levis  to  acid  his  distinguished  name  to  the  trio,  and 
to  aid  in  the  founding  of  the  new  medical  college.  To  this  nucleus 
others  were  joined,  and,  on  December  21,  a  meeting  was  held,  which 
resolved  to  organize  an  institution  for  giving  advanced  instruction 
in  medicine  and  surgery.  The  polysyllabic  name,  'The  Philadel- 
phia Polyclinic  and  College  for  Graduates  in  Medicine^  was  the 

result  of  a  compromise The  dispensary  wavS  opened  at 

the  southeast  corner  of  Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets,  on  March 
12,  1883;  the  first  pupil  matriculated  March  26,  1883,  while  the 
charter  incorporating  the  institution  'for  the  purpose  of  furnishing 
gratuitous  medical  services  and  advice  to  the  sick  poor,  and  afford- 
ing physicians  facilities  for  study  in  special  branches  of  practice,' 
was  granted  March  19,  1883."  The  incorporators  Avere  Drs.  Charles 
H.  Burnett,  J.  Solis-Cohen,  Edward  L.  Duer,  George  C.  Harlan, 
Henry  Leffmann,  Richard  J.  Levis,  Charles  K.  Mills,  Thomas  G. 
Morton,  John  B.  Roberts,  Edward  O.  Shakespeare,  Arthur  Van 
Harlingen  and  James  C.  Wilson.  The  building  opposite  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  was  fitted  up  for  hospital  and  instruction  pur- 
poses, and  the  faculty  consisted  of  Dr.  R.  J.  Levis,  for  Operative 
and  Clinical  Surgery;  Dr.  T.  G.  Morton,  for  General  and  Ortho- 
paedic Surgery;  Dr.  J.  Solis-Cohen,  for  Diseases  of  the  Nose  and 

(e)    Dr.  Richard  J.  Levis. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Throat;  Dr.  Jamee  C.  Wilson,  for  Diseases  of  the  Chest;  Dr.  John 
II.  Roberts,  for  Applied  Anatomy  and  Practical  Surgery;  Dr. 
Charles  II.  Burn<  tt,  for  Diseases  of  ih<-  Ear;  Dr.  Charles  K.  Bd 
for  the  Mind  and  Nervous  System ;  Dr.  Benry  Leffmann  for  Clinical 
Chemistry  and  Hygiene;  Dr.  Arthur  Van  Harlingen,  for  Dise; 
of  i  In*  Skin ;  Dr.  Charles  L.  Duer,  for  Diseases  of  Wbmeu  a  nd  Chil- 
dren; Dr.  <  reorge  C.  Harlan,  for  Diseases  of  the  L.\  e;  Dr.  J.  I  [enry 
C  Simes,  for  Genito-Urinarj  and  Venereal  Diseases;  and  Dr.  Fred- 
erick  P.   Henry,   for   Pathology  and   Microscopy.     The  year   was 

divided    LntO    six-week    sessions.       The    school     was    SUCCeSSful    from 

the  first,  and  lias  ever  since  enjoyed  ;s  prosperity  which  is  largely 
due  to  the  unremitting  interest  in  its  welfare  displayed  by  Dr. 
John  B.  Roberts.  All  bul  one  of  the  original  faculty  are  still  liv- 
ing: Dr.  Richard  J.  Lexis,  the  first  president  and  senior  professor, 
died  in  1890,  in  Kennett,  Pennsylvania,  a1  his  homo,  "Cedarcroft," 
famous  as  the  former  home  of  Bayard  Taylor.  He  retired  from 
practice  in  1887  ai  the  age  of  sixty.  He  was  the  son  of  a  physician, 
and  was  horn  in  Philadelphia  in  L827.  After  his  graduation  from 
Jefferson  Medical  College  in  1848,  he  settled  in  Philadelphia  and 
at  various  periods  was  connected  with  several  of  the  leading  hos- 
pitals. ||«-  served  as  president  of  the  trustees  of  Jefferson  for  ten 
years  and  was  honored  with  the  presidency  of  both  the  County 
and  State  medical  societies. 

There  were  hut  few  changes  in  the  faculty  while  the  institu- 
tion was  at  Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets.  I  Ms.  Levis  and  Wilson 
resigned  in  1883-4,  and  Dr.  \V.  II.  Parish  joined  the  obstetrical 
department  for  a  time;  I >r.  \Y.  II.  Baker  also  became  an  adjunct 
professor.  The  next  year  Dr.  Charles  P>.  Nancrede  succeeded  1  >r. 
Morton  and  I  >r.  L.  W.  Steinbach  became  adjunct  to  1  >r.  Roberts. 
Dr.  Louis  Genois  also  was  an  accession  for  the  chair  of  Pharma- 
ceutical Chemistry.  The  growth  had  been  so  great  in  every  way, 
and  the  staff  of  clinical  assistants  so  very  numerous,  that  larger 
quarters  were  obtained  in  a  four-story  building  at  the  coiner  of 
Broad  and  Lombard  streets,  ami  opened  on  March  i.  L88C.  Dr. 
P.  P.  Baer  succeeded  Dr.  Duer  that  year,  l»r.  w.  Barton  Hopkins 
look  the  chair  of  Clinical  Surgery,  and  I>r.  Baker  became  a  full 


362  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

professor,  as  did  Dr.  Steinbach,  who  took  the  chair  of  Operative 
Surgery.  In  1887-8  there  were  numerous  additions  as  adjuncts, 
instructors  and  assistants,  and  in  1888-9  several  important  changes 
occurred:  Drs.  Henry  and  Solis-Cohen  resigned,  also  Drs.  Genois, 
Hopkins,  and  Baker.  The  additions  were:  Dr.  Thomas  J.  Mays,  for 
Diseases  of  the  Chest;  Dr.  Alex.  W.  MacOoy,  for  those  of  the  Throat 
and  Nose;  Dr.  H.  Augustus  Wilson,  for  General  and  Orthopaedic 
Surgery;  Dr.  Edward  Jackson,  for  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Dr.  S. 
Solis-Cohen  for  Clinical  Medicine  and  Applied  Therapeutics.  The 
years  1889  and  1890  were  witnesses  of  still  greater  things  for  the 
Polyclinic,  for  it  was  in  November,  1889,  that  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  for  "the  finest  hospital  building  devoted  to  post-graduate 
instruction  in  the  world,"  situated  farther  west  on  Lombard  street, 
on  the  South  Side,  but  a  few  doors  west  of  South  Eighteenth  street. 
Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  was  the  most  notable  accession  to  the  faculty 
that  year,  his  professorship  being  that  of  the  Mind  and  Nervous 
System,  a  department  in  which  he  first  became  famous  for  his 
work  in  the  Turner's  Lane  Military  Hospital  of  this  city  during  the 
Civil  War.  Dr.  B.  Alex.  Kandall  was  also  elected  to  the  professor- 
ship of  Diseases  of  the  Ear.  In  1890,  Drs.  Levis,  J.  Solis-Cohen, 
Bennett  and  Nancrede,  and,  in  '91,  Dr.  Harlan,  became  the  first 
professors  of  the  emeritus  list.  Dr.  E.  P.  Davis,  in  1890,  became 
professor  of  Obstetrics,  Dr.  Thomas  S.  K.  Morton,  of  Clinical  Sur- 
gery, and  Dr.  Mays,  of  Experimental  Therapeutics,  while  the 
Auxiliary  list  was  still  further  enlarged.  In  1891-2  the  accessions 
were:  Dr.  S.  D.  Kisley  for  the  Eye,  Dr.  John  B.  Deaver  for  Sur- 
gery, Dr.  J.  P.  Crozer  Griffith  for  Clinical  Medicine,  Dr.  J.  Mont- 
gomery Baldy  for  Gynecology,  Dr.  A.  W.  WTatson  for  the  Throat 
and  Nose,  and  Dr.  George  E.  de  Schweinitz  for  Diseases  of  the 
Eye.  Dr.  J.  Madison  Taylor  for  Diseases  of  Children,  Harris  A. 
Slocum  for  Gynecology,  and  Benjamin  Lee  for  Orthopaedics — 
although  Dr.  Lee  withdrew  later — were  the  additions  of  1892-3; 
and  those  of  the  following  year  were:  Dr.  Thomas  Neilson  for 
Genito-Urinary  Diseases,  Dr.  Wharton  Sinkler  for  Nervous  Dis- 
eases, Dr.  Balph  W.  Seiss  for  the  Ear,  and  Dr.  W.  J.  Taylor  for 
Orthopaedic  Surgery.     In  1895,  when  Dr.  Simes  became  emeritus 


I.\  PHILADELPHIA. 

professor,  tin-  faculty  lia<l  been  increased  so  as  i"  number  thirty- 
five  professors  and  forty  auxiliary  Instructors.  Those  added  in 
thai  year  were:  Dr.  Lewis  II.  A.dler,  Jr.,  for  Diseases  of  the  Rec- 
tum, Dr.  Harrison  Allen  fortheThroal  and  Nose,  Dr.  Bias  J.  Stern 
for  Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery,  Dr.  J.  Abbotl  Cantrell  for  Dis- 
eases of  the  Skin,  Dr.  Edward  Martin  for  Genito-Urinary  Surgery, 
and  l>r.  Orville  Horwitz  for  the  same  subject.  Dr.  Horwitz,  bow- 
ever,  resigned  the  aexl  year.  In  L896-7  there  were  several  acces- 
sions, and  1  >r.  Van  Harlinuen  was  1 1 1 : i < I < -  emeritus  professor;  Dr. 
Charles  W.  Burr  was  made  professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind  and 
Nervous  System;  Dr.  Howard  P.  Hansell,  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye; 
Dr.  James  K.  Young,  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Dr.  David  l>.  Stew- 
art, of  Diseases  of  the  Stomach  and  Intestines;  I  >r.  A.  A.  Eshner,  of 
Clinical  Medicine;  Drs.  Walter  J.  Freeman  and  E.  L.  Vansant,  of 
I  Useases  of  the  Throat  and  Nose,  and  Dr.  Judson  Dalaml.  professor 
of  Diseases  of  the  Chest. 

The  present  Faculty  consists  of  the  following:  J.  Solis-Cohen, 
M.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat;  Charles  II. 
Burnett,  M.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Ear;  ( Jharles 
B.  Nancrede,  M.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  General  and  Orthopaedic 
Surgery;  George  C.  Harlan,  M.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Diseases 
of  the  Eye;  J.  Henry  C.  Simes,  M.  D.,  Emeritus  Professor  of  Genito- 
Urinary  and  Venereal  Diseases;  Arthur  Van  Harlingen,  M.  D., 
Emeritus  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Skin;  John  B.  Roberts, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery;  Charles  K.  .Mills.  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Mind  and  Nervous  System:  Henry 
Leffmann,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  chemistry  and  Hygiene; 
B.  F.  Baer,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology;  Lewis  W.  Steinbach, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery;  Thomas  J. 
Mays,  M.  !>.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  chest  and  of  Experi- 
mental Therapeutics;  II.  Augustus  Wilson,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
General  ami  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Edward  Jackson,  M.  I  >..  Pro- 
fessor of  Diseases  of  i  he  Eye;  Solomon  Soiis-t  Johen,  M.  1  >.,  Professor 
of  Clinical  Medicine  ami  Therapeutics;  B.  Alexander  Randall, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Ear;  Edward  P.  Davis,  M.  I ».. 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Infancy;  Thomas  G.  Mor- 


3G4  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ton,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Thomas  S.  K.  Morton, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Surgery;  Samuel  D.  Eisley,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Arthur  W.  Watson,  M.  D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Diseases  of  the  Xose  and  Throat;  J.  P.  Crozer  Griffith, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine;  J.  Montgomery  Baldy,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Gynecology;  George  E.  de  Schweiuitz,  M.  D.,  Professor 
of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  John  Madison  Taylor,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Diseases  of  Children;  Harris  A.  Slocum,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gyne- 
cology; Thomas  E.  Xeilson,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Genito-Urinary 
Surgery;  Ealph  W.  Seiss,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Ear; 
Lewis  J.  Adler,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Rectum; 
Max  J.  Stern,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Operative  and  Clinical  Surgery; 
J.  Abbott  Cantrell,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Skin;  Ed- 
ward Martin,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Genito-Urinary  Surgery;  Howard 
F.  Hansell,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  James  K. 
Young,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  David  D.  Stewart, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Stomach  and  Intestines;  Augus- 
tus A.  Eshner,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine;  Walter  J. 
Freeman,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Xose; 
Eugene  L.  Vansant,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and 
Xose;  Judson  Daland,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Chest; 
Assinell  Hewson,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  Joseph  S.  Gibbs, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Xose;  T.  B.  Schneide- 
man,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  G.  Hudson  Makuen, 
M.  D.,  Professor  of  Defects  of  Speech;  Henry  E.  Wharton,  M.  D., 
Lecturer  on  the  Surgical  Diseases  of  Children;  Charles  P.  Xoble, 
M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Gynecology;  Collier  L.  Bower,  M.  D.,  Adjunct 
Professor  of  Clinical  and  Operative  Surgery;  John  T.  Carpenter, 
Jr.,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Frank  W. 
Talley,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Gynecology;  James  Thorington, 
M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  William  H.  Wells, 
M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Infancy; 
Clarence  A.  Yeasey,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the 
Eye;  Herbert  D.  Pease,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Bacteriology; 
J.  D.  Moore,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Rectum; 
David  Eiesman,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine  and 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  365 

Therapeutics;  Hilary  .M.  Christian,  .M.  D..  Adjunct  Professor  of 
Genito-Urinary  Surgery;  A.  0.  J.  Kelly,  M.  I'..  Adjunct  Professor 
of  Pathology;  J.  Torrance  Rugh,  M.  D.,  Adjunct  Professor  of 
Orthopaedic  Surgery,  and  Anna  -M.  Fullerton,  M.  D.,  Associate  in 
Surgery.  The  instructors  are:  J.  William  McConnell,  M.  D., 
Instructor  in  Nervous  Diseases  and  Electro-Therapeutics;  L.  J. 
Hammond,  .M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Nb»  ; 
W.  A.  X.  Dorland,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Gynecology;  Edward  W. 
Stevens,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Morris  B.Miller, 
M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Surgery;  Elizabeth  R.  Bundy,  M.  I  >.,  [nstructor 
in  Nervous  Diseases  and  Electro-Therapeutics;  Theodore  A.  Erck, 
M.  I).,  [nstructor in  Gynecology;  < J-eorge  E.  Stout,  M.  I >..  [nstructor 
in  Diseases  of  the  Ear;  Henrietta  Dougherty,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in 
Diseases  of  i  lie  Ear;  Archibald  G.  Thomson,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in 
Operative  Ophthalmology;  Florence  Mayo,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in 
Diseases  of  the  Eye;  James  II.  McKee,  M.  I  >.,  Instructor  in  Diseasi  - 
of  Children;  John  Lindsay,  M.  J).,  Instructor  in  Genito-TJrinary 
Surgery;  Bertha  Lewis,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Orthopaedic  Surgery; 
Philip  Fischelis,  M.  D.,  [nstructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and 
Nose;  John  li.  Gibbon,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Surgery;  W.  M.  Sweet, 
M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Eye:  J.  \V.  H.  Rhein,  M.  D., 
Instructor  in  Neuropathology;  Wilson  Bowers,  M.  D.,  Instructor 
in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Nose;  Frank  Woodbury,  M.  D., 
[nstructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Nose;  Kate  W.  Baldwin, 
M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Nose;  Truman 
Auge*,  M.  J).,  Instructor  in  ClinicaJ  Medicine:  Jay  F.  Schamberg, 
M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Dermatology;  Helen  Murphy,  M.  D.,  Instructor 
in  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  Philip  R.  cleaver,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in 
Diseases  of  the  Rectum;  A.  F.  Wit  inn-,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Dis- 
eases of  the  Mind  and  Nervous  System;  B.  F.  R.  dark,  M.  P.. 
Instructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Nose;  W.  S.  Shimer, 
M.  P.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of  the  Ear;  Maurice  A.  Bunce,  M.  !>.. 
Instructor  in  clinical  Medicine;  Howard  Reed,  M.  D.,  [nstructor 
in  Orthopaedic  Surgery;  Joseph  T.  Smith,  M.  D..  [nstructor  in  clin- 
ical Medicine:  William  G.  Spiller,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Diseases  of 
the  Mind  and  Nervous  System;  Mary  A.  Schively,  M.  D.,  Instructor 


366  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

in  Neuropathology;  George  C.  Kusel,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Diseases 
of  the  Throat  and  Nose;  A.  A.  Stevens,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Clin- 
ical Medicine;  Miss  J.  M.  Ward,  M.  D.,  Instructor  in  Massage;  and 
clinical  assistants  in  all  departments  to  the  number  of  sixty,  all 
but  four  of  whom  are  graduates  in  medicine.  The  annual  average 
attendance  of  physicians  is  now  above  one  hundred,  the  exact 
number  of  1896  being  117,  about  half  of  whom  were  from  Penn- 
sylvania. Its  clinical  service,  in  its  own  hospital,  averages  about 
18,000  new  cases  annually.  The  Polyclinic  is  distinguished  among 
Philadelphia  schools  for  exceptional  advantages.  It  is  realty  a 
great  hospital  elaborately  equipped  for  personal,  clinical,  special- 
ist instruction  in  the  midst  of  patients.  As  its  services  are  designed 
for  the  poor,  it  also  thus  becomes  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  city's 
medical  charities.  Its  hospital  service  is  supplemented  by  its  dis- 
pensary, which  had  77,000  visits  in  1896,  and  its  Training  School 
for  Nurses  has  already  graduated  nine  students.  The  Polyclinic, 
significantly  situated  as  it  is,  almost  equidistant  from  the  three 
great  men's  colleges— those  of  the  University,  Jefferson  and  the 
Medico-Chirurgical — is  a  complement  to  them  and  a  bond  of  union 
between  them,  while  its  abundant  facilities  for  women  students 
make  it  a  helpful  coadjutor  of  the  Woman's  College,  on  North 
College  avenue,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city.  It  thus  occupies 
a  keystone  place  in  the  medical  education  of  Philadelphia.  The 
Polyclinic  is  the  crowning  type  of  the  present  period — a  special- 
ist's school  in  a  period  characterized  by  the  increasing  subdivisions 
of  the  field  once  covered  by  the  general  practitioner,  and  yet  a 
school  by  which  the  general  practitioner  is  kept  in  touch  with  the 
various  specialties. 

These  great  schools  are  the  centers  of  power  in  Philadelphia's 
vast  ranks  of  conservative  medicine.  Through  them  the  city  has 
always  exerted  its  greatest  influence  upon  the  medical  profession, 
and  some  of  their  professorships  are  everywhere  acknowledged 
to  be  among  the  first  prizes  and  honors  the  medical  world  has 
to  offer.  Each  has  its  own  mission  and  character;  and  from  them 
in  a  large  degree  the  medical  societies  take  their  tone.  With  them 
the  hospitals  and  dispensaries  are  largely  colaborers,  and  to  them 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

are  in  many  cases  I  ributary.  The  colleges  have  undoubtedly  been 
most  largely  instrumental,  during  the  presenl  period,  in  founding 
hospitals  and  dispensaries.  This,  it  maj  be  Baid,  has  been  done 
from  motives  of  self-interest,  bu1  the  interest  of  the  highesl  type 
of  medical  Bchoo]  is  undoubtedly  identical,  from  a  sanitary  stand- 
point, with  thai  of  ili«'  i  ommunity  al  Large. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  here  to  consider  those  semi-medical  insti- 
tutions— denial,  pharmaceutical  and  the  like    -of  which  Philadel- 
phia has  such  excellenl  examples,  but,  although  this  is  a  city  of 
conservative  ami  what  is  called  regular  medicine,  and    bu1   one 
oilier  system  of  medical  tenets  has  gained  any  appreciable  constit- 
uency, no  history  of  medical  development,  in  the  presenl   period 
especially,  can  overlook  the  growth  of  the  homeopathic    institu- 
tion   known  as  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College.     This,  with  its 
hospital  and  other  fine  buildings,  facing  both  Broad  and  Fifteenth 
streets,  above  Race,  has  a  faculty  of  thirty-six  professors,  instruct- 
ors and  demonstrators,  annually  instructing  about  258  students. 
The  institution  embraces  five  large  buildings.     The  college  proper, 
fronting  on  Broad  street,  is  one  of  the  numerous  attractive  struc- 
tures in  the  region  just  north  of  the  City  Hall.     It  contains  "a 
large  anatomical  amphitheater  and  three  lecture  rooms,  a  well- 
lighted  dissecting  room,  large  laboratories  for  microscopic  work 
in  Biology,  Histology,  Pathology  and  Bacteriology;  a  large  room 
for  manual  practice  in  Bandaging,  Application  of  Surgical  Dress- 
ings, and  Surgical  Operations  on  the  Cadaver;  a  smaller  room  for 
manual  practice  in  Obstetrics;  a  chemical  laboratory;  the  College 
Museum,  with  its  thousands  of  selected  specimens,  and  the  College 
Library  of  over  15,000  volumes,  besides  other  apartments  for  the 
use  of  the  students  and  teachers.     The  next  building  of  the  group 
is  known  as  Clinical  Hall.     This  structure  is  designed  to  accom- 
modate the  immense  out-patient  service  n\'  the  institution,  amount- 
ing to  about  one  hundred   new   patients  daily   the    year    round. 
besides   the   general    reception   and  assignment    rooms,   there   are 
waiting-rooms  and   examination   and   prescribing   rooms   \>>v  each 
and  every  department  of  the  clinical  service,  each  one  being  spe- 
cially arranged  and  equipped  for  the  particular  work  of  the  depart- 


368  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ment  it  is  intended  to  accommodate.  Then  there  are  six  special 
clinic-rooms,  in  which  as  many  clinics  can  be  in  progress  at  one 
time.  Each  room  accommodates  a  small  sub-class  of  the  students 
engaged  in  examining  and  treating  patients,  under  the  instruction 
and  supervision  of  the  various  clinical  professors,  while  at  the  top 
of  the  building  there  is  provided  one  of  the  most  comfortable  and 
best  adapted  clinical  amphitheaters ,  in  America,  with  a  seating 
capacity  of  nearly  four  hundred,  and  communicating  with  the 
anaesthetizing  and  recovery  rooms  and  with  the  general  wards  of 
the  hospital.  The  basement  of  the  Clinical  Hall  contains  the  heat, 
light  and  motor  plant  of  the  entire  institution.  The  remaining 
three  buildings,  the  largest  fronting  on  Fifteenth  street,  consti- 
tute the  hospital  proper,  comprising  the  receiving  wards,  the 
administrative  offices,  resident  physician's  office,  private  operating 
rooms  and  chapel,  small  wards  for  special  classes  of  patients, 
private  rooms  for  pay  patients,  nurses'  rooms,  etc.  The  entire 
hospital  contains  two  hundred  beds,"  and  averages  about  28,000 
cases  of  all  kinds  annually.  This  concise  description  shows  that 
the  adherents  of  homeopathy  in  Philadelphia  have  as  excellent 
educational  facilities,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  as  have  those 
of  regular  medicine;  especially  since  clinical  instruction  in  such 
hospitals  as  the  Pennsylvania  and  Philadelphia  are  free  to  their 
students.  Over  2,300  students  have  been  graduated  since  1849. 
The  College  requires  a  four  years'  course.  Its  faculty  consists  of: 
Pemberton  Dudley,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Institutes  of  Medicine  and 
Hygiene;  Charles  M.  Thomas,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Ophthalmology 
and  Otology;  John  E.  James,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Gynecology; 
Charles  Mohr,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeu- 
tics; William  C.  Goodno,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  the  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine; William  H.  Bigler,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physiology  and  Pedia- 
trics; William  B.  Tan  Lennep,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Surgery;  Her- 
bert L.  Northrop,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Anatomy;  Charles  Piatt, 
Ph.  D.,  F.  C.  S.,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Toxicology;  Edward 
Mercer,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Obstetrics;  Bufus  B.  Weaver,  M.  D., 
Professor  of  Begional  and  Applied  Anatomy  and  Demonstrator; 
Erving  Melville  Howard,  M.  D.,  Associate  Professor  of  Materia 


is    PHILADELPHIA. 

Medica;  Oliver  8.  Haines,  .M.  I >..  Clinical  Professor  of  Medicine; 
ESdward  R.  Bnader,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physical  Diagnosis;  Clar- 
ence Bartlett,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Neurology  and  Medical  Semi- 
nolog\  ;  J'.  Sharpies  Hall,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Pathology  and  Director 
of  Histological  Laboratories;  William  Shippen  Roney,  A.  M., 
Attorney  at  Law.  Lecturer  on  Medica]  Jurisprudence;  Edward  M. 
Gramm,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Dermatology;  Frederick  W.  Messerve, 
M.  D.,  Lecturer  ami  Demonstrator  in  Bistology  and  [nstructor  in 
Ophthalmology;  Landreth  W.Thompson,  M.  !>..  Lecturer  on  Minor 
Surgery  ami  Emergencies;  Carl  V.  Vischer,  M.  I  >..  Lecturer  on 
Surgical  Pathology;  Isaac  GL  Shellcross,  M.  I>..  Lecturer  on  Rhi- 
nologyand  Laryngology  ami  Clinical  Instructor;  Thomas  Lindsley 
Bradford,  M.  D.,  Librarian  ami  Lecturer  on  History  of  Medicine; 
Willett  Enos  Botzell,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  LJotany  ami  Zoology; 
Duncan  Campbell,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Medical  Terminology;  Hal- 
ton  I.  Jessup,  M.  I).,  Lecturer  on  Ophthalmology  and  otology  and 
Clinical  Instructor;  Isaac  G.  Smedley,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Gynecol- 
ogy and  Clinical  Instructor;  J.  Percy  Moore,  Ph.  D.,  Instructor  in 
Biology;  Weston  1).  Bayley,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Insanity  and  clin- 
ical Instructor  in  Neurology;  William  W.  Speakman,  M.  I>., 
Clinical  Instructor  in  Otology;  Leon  1'.  Ashcraft,  M.  D.,  Lecturer 
on  Venereal  Diseases;  Frank  C.  Benson,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator 
of  Surgery;  Thomas  H.  Carmichael,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Pharma- 
ceutics; Tiayniond  J.  Harris,  M.  ]>..  Assistant  in  Chemistry;  Walter 
W.  Maires,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Histology;  and  Alfred  Cook- 
man,  M.  D.,  Demonstrator  of  Pathology.  Its  student  constituency, 
like  that  of  other  colleges  in  Philadelphia,  is  about  half  from  Penn- 
sylvania, but  it  also  has  large  numbers  fr<>m  New  Jersey  and  New- 
York,  and  the  rest  are  well  scattered  over  this  and  even  other 
lands.  Some  post-graduate  work  is  done  and  its  last  class  of 
graduates  numbered  thirty-seven.  It  has  now  entered  upon  its 
fiftieth  year. 

Besides  these  institutions,  there  are  "lie  other  Bomeopathic 
school  and  several  societies  and  hospitals,  with  the  usual  nurse 
and  dispensary  Bervice.  The  Philadelphia  Post-Graduate  School 
of  Homeopathics,  at  613-15  Spring  Garden  street,  was  opened  in 

24 


370  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

March,  1891,  and  now  has  a  faculty  of  fourteen,  of  which  Dr.  J.  T. 
Kent  is  dean.  Besides  the  old  Hahnemann  Alumni  Association, 
organized  in  1857,  there  is  the  Germantown  Society;  the  Phila- 
delphia County  Society,  organized  in  1886,  and  now  having  266 
members;  the  Twenty-third  Ward  Society;  the  Clinical  Society, 
and  several  clubs.  The  Homeopathic  Hospital,  beside  the  Hahne- 
mann, was  opened  in  1871;  the  Children's  Hospital  was  opened 
in  1877,  with  60  beds;  the  Woman's  Hospital  was  opened  in  1884, 
Avith  75  beds;  and  St.  Luke's,  with  11  beds,  was  opened  in  1896. 
There  are  also  four  independent  dispensaries,  and  five  journals 
published.  This  is  the  result  of  sixty-six  years  of  Homeopathy 
in  Philadelphia,  the  first  physician  to  locate  here  being  Dr.  George 
Butts,  who  came  in  1831.  Two  years  later  Dr.  Butts  was  joined 
by  his  friend,  Dr.  Constantine  Hering,  who,  in  1848,  with  Dr.  Jacob 
Jeans  and  Dr.  Walter  Williamson,  started  the  first  permanent 
Homeopathic  Medical  College  in  this  country.  This  Homeopathic 
Medical  College  began  its  first  course  October  15,  1848,  at  the  rear 
of  627  Arch  street,  with  15  students.  A  rupture  occurred  in  the 
organization  in  1867,  and  Dr.  Hering,  leading  the  seceders,  founded 
Hahnemann  Medical  College  on  July  17  of  that  year.  As  Hahne- 
mann survived,  and  was  the  successor  of  the  first  institution,  it 
now  claims  to  be  the  oldest  medical  college  in  the  world  teaching 
the  system  of  treatment  originated  by  Samuel  Hahnemann.  Its 
dean,  Dr.  Pemberton  Dudley,  was  president  of  the  National  Home- 
opathic Society  during  the  current  year. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  colleges  come  the  medical  societies. 
This  is  true,  not  only  locally,  but  also  nationally,  and  even  in  world- 
wide relations.  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  Philadelphia  has  influ- 
enced the  medical  world  as  much  through  her  societies  as  through 
her  institutions  of  learning,  although  their  spheres  of  action  are 
so  different  as  hardly  to  be  comparable.  This  has  been  done 
chiefly  through  the  two  great  representative  medical  societies  of 
the  city.  All  the  others  are  sectional,  either  in  location,  aim,  con- 
stituency, or  some  other  feature.  These  two  societies  have  prac- 
tically gone  on  side  by  side  for  over  a  hundred  years  (f),  and  during 

(f)    The  old   Philadelphia   Medical    Society    must   always    be    considered    the 
County  Society  under  another  form. 


IN  run. AitKi.i-ui  \ 

.ill  thai  time  bave  served  as  a  sort  of  senate  and  bouse  of  repre 
sentatives  to  the  profession  of  Philadelphia,  except  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  senate,  id  this  <;is«-,  are  almost  invariably  members 
of  the  house,  and  thai  between  the  two  bodies  there  does  not  ne 
sarily  exisl  any  community  <»r  acl  ion.    The  1 5ounty  Ifediea]  Society 
is  the  popular  body,  to  which  any  reputable  physician  of  the  i    g 
alar  school,  in  its  territory,  may  be  elected,  and,  in  ;<  sense,  H  is 
also  the  greatesl  of  the  societies,  because  it  is  the  sole  nta 

tive  of  the  physicians  of  the  city  in  both  the  state  and  national 
bodies.  The  College  of  Physicians,  on  the  other  hand,  has  no  con- 
aection  with  any  oilier  society,  is  sufficient  onto  itself  in  that 
respect,  and  is  practically,  though  not  formally,  a  limited  and 
somewhat  exclusive  body,  to  which,  with  very  pare  exceptions,  all 
the  greatesl  names  in  the  city's  medical  history  bave  belonged. 
The  County  Society  is  purely  a  society;  the  College  of  Physicians 
is  a  great  institution  also,  whose  professional  treasures,  accumu- 
lating generation  after  generation  within  its  ivy-grown  walls  at 
Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets,  invest  it  with  an  interest  which, 
to  the  cultured  physician,  is  almost;  sacred.  In  the  hall  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  the  County  Society  holds  its  meetings,  as 
well  as  the  Academy  of  Surgery,  the  Pathological,  Neurological, 
Obstetrical,  and  Pediatric  societies.  Both  the  College  ami  the 
County  Society,  so  far  as  national  medicine  is  concerned,  have 
always  caused  Philadelphia  to  he  acknowledged  as  the  leader  of 
the  conservatives,  but,  locally,  the  County  Society  leads  the  liberal 
wing  and  the  College  <>f  Physicians  is  and  always  has  been  the 
conservative  fortress.  The  County  Society,  since  it  became  the 
sole  representative  of  the  profession  in  the  national  society,  has 
been  the  more  actively  practical  body,  the  College  of  Physicians 
the  more  purely  scientific.  The  County  Society,  in  recent  years, 
has  been  the  mote  usual  leader  of  movements,  while  the  College 
of  Physicians,  because  of  its  principles  and  traditions,  has  been 
the  main  determiner  of  standards  in  most  of  the  professional 
questions  that,  have  arisen  within  the  last  century.  The  relative 
positions  of  the  two  bodies  ami  the  course  of  events  which  det-  ; 
mined  them  belong  to  the  present  period  of  tie-  medical  history 


372  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  Philadelphia,  and  as  they  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  rise 
of  the  County  Society  they  will  be  considered  in  that  connection. 
A  glance  at  the  history  of  the  College  of  Physicians  will  first  be 
necessary  to  an  understanding  of  these  events,  and  of  the  entire 
course  of  medical  history  in  Philadelphia  since  the  Kevolution. 

The  College  of  Physicians  has  had,  since  its  formation  in  1787.. 
the  following  presidents:  Dr.  John  Redman,  elected  in  1787;  Dr. 
William  Shippen,  elected  in  1805;  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn,  elected  in 
1809;  Dr.  Thomas  Parke,  in  1818;  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James,  in  1835: 
Dr.  Thomas  T.  Hewson,  in  1835,  also;  Dr.  George  B.  Wood,  in  1848: 
Dr.  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  in  1879;  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  in  1883: 
Dr.  Samuel  Lewis,  in  1884;  Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  in  1884,  also;  Dr. 
S.  Weir  Mitchell,  in  1886;  Dr.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  in  1889;  Dr. 
Mitchell  again,  in  1892;  and  Dr.  Da  Costa,  the  present  incumbent, 
again  in  1895.  Of  these  distinguished  men  some  accounts  have 
been  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  excepting  those  still  living 
and  Drs.  Ruschenberger  and  Lewis,  the  former  of  whom  has  writ- 
ten the  only  history  of  the  college,  and  the  latter  of  whom,  in  the 
gift  of  the  Lewis  Library,  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors 
of  the  institution.  Dr.  Ruschenberger  was  born  in  1807  and  died 
in  1895,  after  a  valuable  service  of  nearly  sixty-nine  years  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  in  which  he  bore  the  relative  rank  of  commo- 
dore at  his  decease.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey  and  a  grad- 
uate of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  His  most  notable  work 
was  the  organization  of  the  Naval  Laboratory.  Dr.  Lewis  died 
in  1890  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  desiring  evidently  that  his 
library  should  be  his  only  monument,  as  he  requested  that  no 
memoir  of  his  life  should  be  written.  He  was  born  in  Barbadoes. 
W.  I.,  in  1813,  and  graduated  in  Edinburgh  in  1840,  returning  to 
Philadelphia  thereafter  to  engage  in  practice.  He  was  well  known 
and  successful  in  his  profession,  but  his  love  for  books  and  his 
passion  for  their  collection  were  his  most  striking  characteristics, 
and  resulted  in  the  gift  of  the  Lewis  Library.  The  nucleus  of  this 
superb  collection  of  books  and  journals,  now  numbering  about 
15,000  volumes,  was  formed  on  February  27,  1864,  when  Dr.  Lewis 
presented  to  the  College  his  library,  consisting  of  more  than  2,500 


f.R    .MITCH  EU.. 


l.\    PHILADELPHIA. 

volumes.  Although  the  gift  was  without  conditions,  it  was 
resolve*!,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Alfred  stille,  then  chairman  of  the 
Library  Committee,  thai  the  books  "shall  be  preserved  as  ;t  sep- 
arate collection,  under  the  came  of  tin-  Lewis  Library."  From 
that  lime  until  his  death,  nearly  thirty  years  later,  Dr.  Lewis  con- 
tinued to  a<l<l  to  his  collection.  As  he  was  thoroughly  versed  id 
ancient  and  modern  medical  literature,  and  made  his  purchases 
with  the  most,  discriminating  judgment,  the  library  which  bears 
his  name  is  probably  imequaled  by  any  other  medical  library  of 
similar  size  in  the  world.  The  last  two  presidents  are  ^lill  living 
and  are  too  well  and  widely  known  to  need  more  than  mention. 
No  one  but  must,  instantly  admit  that,  of  all  the  names  of  t  he  living 
physicians  of  Philadelphia,  the  fame  of  these  two  extends  the  most 
widely  both  within  and  without  the  profession;  the  one  as  a  great 
physician  and  teacher;  the  other  great  in  original  scientific 
research,  and  so  favorably  known  as  poet  and  novelist  as  t<>  have 
beeu  described  as  succeeding  to  the  mantle  of  the  "Autocral  of 
the  Breakfast  Table." 

These  executives  have  presided  in  different  places.  The  first 
meetings  were  held  in  the  old  "Academy" — the  forerunner  of  the 
University — at.  Fourth  and  Arch  streets,  and  in  1701  a  room  was 
secured  in  the  hall  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  which 
was  used  for  over  fifty-three  years.  In  1845  the  College  found  aew 
quarters  in  a  hall  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Fifth  and  Library 
streets,  which  was  used  until  1852,  when  "the  picture  house  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,"  containing  the  celebrated  painting 
of  Benjamin  West  and  located  at  820  Spruce  street,  was  rented. 
These  experiences  brought  up  the  question  of  an  independent  per- 
manent home,  and  in  1849  a  building  fund  was  begun.  In  I860 
the  lot  at  Thirteenth  and  Locust  streets  was  purchased,  and  in 
March,  1863,  the  present  building,  except  the  third  story,  which 
was  built  in  1886  chiefly  for  the  Mutter  Museum,  was  opened  for 
meetings.  It  is  now  a  three-story  brick  structure  fronting  od  Thir- 
teenth street,  where  the  door  opens  into  vestibules,  on  the  left  of 
which  are  the  janitor's  rooms  and  those  <>f  the  Nurses'  Directory, 
and  on  the  right  n  stack-room  for  books  and  a  room  used  for  meet- 


376  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ings  of  various  societies.  Tlie  accumulation  of  the  library  has 
grown  so  great  that  the  entire  building,  except  half  of  the  first 
floor  and  all  of  the  third,  which  contains  the  Mutter  Museum,  is 
given  over  to  its  books,  and  other  collections.  The  second  floor 
is  the  main  one.  The  south  side  is  divided  into  two  large  rooms, 
one  known  as  the  General  Library  and  the  other  as  the  Lewis 
Libraiw.  The  walls  of  both  are  banked  with  cases,  portraits, 
curios  and  busts  of  medical  celebrities.  Leading  from  the  General 
Library  to  the  north  end  is  a  smaller  room — the  S.  D.  Gross  Library. 
It  is  in  the  north  room  of  the  second  floor  that  the  meetings  are 
held.  The  "Hall"  contains  an  interesting  collection  of  life-sized 
portraits  of  Rush,  Rednian,  Shippen,  Morgan  and  others,  down 
to  Agnew,  Stille,  Da  Costa  and  Mitchell  of  the  present  day,  while 
in  its  vestibule  are  commemorative  tablets,  busts  of  Gross  and 
Paneoast,  portraits  of  Thomas  Cadwalader,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes 
and  others,  and  an  excellent  reproduction  of  Rembrandt's  "The 
Lesson  in  Anatomy."  This  is  the  home  of  a  medical  library,  sec- 
ond only,  as  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  its  books,  to  that  of 
the  Surgeon-General's  office  at  Washington,  and  of  an  ancient 
society  that  stands  unique  among  all  the  medical  organizations 
of  America. 

The  membership  now  includes  319  Fellows,  of  whom  the  fol- 
lowing constitute  the  present  officers:  President,  Dr.  J.  M.  Da 
Costa ;  vice-president,  Dr.  John  Ashhurst,  Jr. ;  censors,  Drs.  Alfred 
Stille,  William  F.  Norris,  Arthur  V.  Meigs  and  Richard  A.  Glee- 
man;  secretary,  Dr.  Thomas  R.  Xeilson;  treasurer,  Dr.  Henry  M. 
Fisher;  honorary  librarian,  Dr.  Frederick  P.  Henry;  councillors, 
Drs.  Henry  R.  Wharton,  Frederick  A.  Packard,  G.  E.  de  Schweinitz, 
Thomas  8.  K.  Morton,  Charles  W.  Dulles  and  John  K.  Mitchell. 

The  nine  committees  are  as  follows,  the  first  name  mentioned 
being  that  of  the  chairman:  Drs.  G.  G.  Davis,  Damaso  T.  Laine  and 
Thompson  S.  Westcott,  on  Publication;  Drs.  George  C.  Harlan, 
Charles  A.  Oliver,  Charles  B.  Penrose,  F.  X.  Dercum,  William  J. 
Taylor,  and  the  honorary  librarian,  ex  officio,  on  the  Library;  Drs. 
John  H.  Brinton,  Harrison  Allen,  and  George  McClellan,  on  Mutter 
Museum;  Drs.  J.  Ewing  Mears,  Morris  J.  Lewis,  William  Barton 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

Hopkins,  J.  K.  Mitchell,  and  Caspar  Morris,  on  ih<-  Hall;  Dps. 
Wharton  Sinkler,  James  E.  Wilson,  ami  James  \  .  [ngham,  <>n  tin- 
Directory  for  Nurses;  Drs.  I.  .Minis  Bays,  Charles  S.  Wurts,  Wil- 
liam Thomson,  and  the  president  and  treasurer,  on  Finance;  Drs. 
Barton  C.  Hirst,  E.  E.  Montgomery  and  John  r>.  Shober,  on  the 
William  l\  Jenks  Prize  (g);  Drs.  J.  Madison  raylor,  Louis  Stan. 
RobertG.  Le  Conte,  Henry  Morris,  and  the  president,  on  Enter' 
tainments;  Im-s.  II.  C.  Wood,  Roland  <i.  Curtin,  John  B.  Roberts, 
Edward  Jackson,  and  Henry  w.  Cattell,  on  the  Alvarenga  Prize. 
The  chairmen  and  (Inks  of  sections  are:  Drs.  William  1\  Norrie 
and  H.  F.  Hansell,  mi  Ophthalmology;  Drs.  Charles  H.  Burnett 
and  Eugene  L.  Vansant,  «>n  Otology  and  Laryngology;  Drs.  W.  \\ . 
Keen  and  Alfred  C.  Wood,  on  General  Surgery;  l>rs.  Barton  C. 
Hirst  ami  John  15.  Shober,  on  Gynecology;  and  i  >rs.  James  C.  Wil- 
son and  S.  M.  Hamill,  on  General  Medicine  In  direct  charge  of 
the  "Library  is  Mr.  Charles  Perry  Fisher,  with  an  assistant  libra- 
rian. Miss  M.  C.  Rutherford.  The  public  are  admitted  to  the  libra i  \ 
through  the  introduction  of  members.  This  form  of  organization  is 
the  result  of  two  important  changes,  since  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution. The  lirst  of  these  occurred  in  1834,  when  the  charter  was 
made  to  supersede  the  constitution,  and  the  second  in  1893,  when 
sections  were  introduced,  one  of  the  most  important  movements 
in  the  history  of  the  institution,  and  due  largely  to  the  suggestion 
of  the  president,  Dr.  Mitchell.  The  work  of  tie-  College  and  its 
general  position  as  the  chief  representative  of  the  profession  of 
Philadelphia,  up  to  the  time  that,  the  County  Medical  Society  was 
made  exclusive  representative  iu  the  national  society,  has  been 
suggested  in  earlier  chapters.  One  of  the  most  important  works 
in  which  it  participated  was  the  formation  of  a  national  Pharma- 
copoeia. In  this  enterprise  it  persisted  from  L788  until  the  publica- 
tion of  the  volume  in  L831.  The  work  on  the  Pharmacopoeia: 
occupied  many  of  its  ablest  members  during  that  time,  those  must 

(g)  The  w.  f.  Jenks  Memorial  Fund  i-  in  the  hands  of  four  trustees:  l>r. 
James  V.  Ingham,  Charles  S.  Wurts,  Horace  v.  Evans  and  the  chairman  of  the 
Finance  Committee 


378  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

closely  connected  with  it  being  Drs.  Hewson,  AVood  and  Bache- 
"The  founding  and  publishing  of  this  very  important  work,"  says 
Dr.  Buschenberger,  "is  ascribed  very  largely,  if  not  exclusively, 
to  the  enterprise  of  the  College  of  Physicians."  Out  of  this,  as  is 
well  known,  grew  the  Dispensatory  of  the  United  States,  by  Drs, 
Wood  and  Bache,  and  the  College  was  equally  prominent  in  later- 
revisions.  Its  museum,  one  of  the  finest  collections  of  physio- 
logical and  pathological  specimens  in  this  country,  was  begun 
in  1849,  and  received  its  greatest  accession  in  1863  with 
Dr.  Mutter's  collection.  This  collection  and  the  library  and  its 
accompaniments  are  to  medicine  in  Philadelphia  what  the  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences,  the  Philosophical  Society,  and  the  His- 
torical Society  are  to  general  scientific  culture,  and  its  present 
constant  accumulation  gives  promise  of  a  remarkable  future.  The 
Directory  for  Nurses  was  the  result  of  a  suggestion  of  Dr.  Mitchell, 
who  has  been  one  of  the  most  effective  powers  in  the  recent 
growth  of  the  College.  This  was  established  in  1882,  and  at  the 
end  of  four  years  the  number  of  applications  for  nurses  filed  aver- 
aged considerably  above  a  thousand  annually.  In  1883  Dr.  Mitchell 
gave  the  College  $5,000  as  a  permanent  entertainment  fund,  and 
one  of  the  first  uses  of  it  was  the  celebration  of  the  centennial 
anniversary  in  January,  1887,  the  chief  features  of  which  were  a 
"Commemorative  Address"  by  Dr.  Mitchell,  "Reminiscences  of  the 
College"  by  Dr.  Alfred  Stille,  "An  Account  of  the  Institution  of 
the  College  of  Physicians"  by  Dr.  Euschenberger,  and  an  elaborate 
program  of  addresses,  toasts  and  responses.  The  presidency  of 
Dr.  Mitchell  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  the 
institution.  Eecently,  under  Dr.  Da  Costa's  influence,  the  mem- 
bership has  been  considerably  increased,  and  the  greatest  growth 
of  the  past  decade  has  been  in  the  development  of  the  sections. 
But  these  marks  of  progress  in  the  career  of  the  society  are  not 
sufficient,  in  any  measure,  to  indicate  the  present  power  of  the 
College  as  a  framer  of  professional  standards,  or  its  general  influ- 
ence, here  and  elsewhere.  It  has  been  a  quiet,  unostentatious 
force  in  conservative  medicine  in  this  country  for  over  a  century. 
If  it  has  been  somewhat  less  active  in  popular  movements  in  recent 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

years,  ii  has  not  been  Less  influential  in  medical  thought,  am]  onlj 
Deeds  the  adjunct  of  a  journal  to  make  thai  fad  more  evidenl 
the  professios  ;it  Large,     If  its  library  is  the  memory  of  the  med 
i<;il  profession  of  Philadelphia,  iis  journal  would  be  its  not  less 
distinguished  current  thought 

The  rise  of  the  Philadelphia  Oounty  Medical  Society  may  be 
dated  from  June  :;,  ls7-l,  when  it  became  the  sole  representative  of 
the  profession  of  Philadelphia  in  tin*  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, by  an  amendment  to  the  plan  of  organization  of  the  latter, 
making  its  constituency  thereafter  composed  of  Btate,  district  and 
county  societies.  Tliis  action  was  merely  a  fulfillment  of  the  orig- 
inal plan  of  the  national  body,  which  intended  its  representation 
to  be  territorial,  rather  than  institutional,  as  compromise  had  com- 
pelled it  to  be  ever  since  its  organization.  It  will  !><•  remembered 
that  this  point  was  discussed  in  the  very  earliest  meetings  for  the 
organization  of  the  national  society,  and  it  will  also  be  recalled 
that  Philadelphia  furnished  the  advocates  for  institutional  repre- 
sentation; and  Dr.  X.  S.  Davis  and  his  New  York  (State)  constit- 
uency, those  for  the  territorial,  the  latter  aiming  to  have  medical 
organization  somewhat  like  that  of  our  governmental  structure. 
For  more  than  twenty-seven  years  Philadelphia  was  successful 
in  upholding  institutional  representation,  i.  e.,  representation  from 
societies,  colleges,  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  rather  than  from 
counties  and  districts,  but  the  sentiment  of  the  country,  stimulated 
by  the  perseverance  of  Dr.  Davis  in  the  original  plan,  made  the 
adoption  of  the  latter  only  a  question  of  time.  It  was  the  object 
of  democracy  in  medical  organization,  to  secure  an  organ  of  expres- 
sion of  the  American  medical  profession,  but  this  did  not  imply 
that  there  was  not  a  proper  field  for  independent  organization  out- 
side of  it,  although  that  idea,  now  fast  disappearing,  involved  the 
situation  for  some  time.  The  question  has  always  been  one  of 
professional  democracy  and  exclusiveness,  and  it  has  boon  bo  min- 
gled with  the  allied  questions  of  the  cities  v<  rs'is  the  country,  the 
East  versus  the  West,  and  the  specialist  versus  the  general  practi- 
tioner, that  unless  one  keeps  all  these  antitheses  in  mind  the  mo\  e- 
ment  seems  inexplicable.     It  required  a  long  struggle  to  achieve 


380  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  victory  of  democracy,  and  Philadelphia  was  the  chief  battle- 
field during  twenty-seven  years  and  over.  Fortunately,  the  ques- 
tion seems  practically  settled  by  the  recognition  that  the  national 
body  and  its  constituents  have  each  a  field  of  their  own,  in  no  way 
conflicting  with  those  of  the  independent,-  specialist,  scientific, 
social,  or  sectional  societies,  in  medicine,  that  have  been  and  will 
be  found  desirable;  for  there  is  a  territory  that  only  such  bodies 
can  cover.  As  memories  of  the  struggle  fade,  the  adjustments 
which  have  certainly  been  affected  by  them  will  undoubtedly  be 
restored,  and  every  branch  of  the  profession  receive  its  due  con- 
sideration. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  trace  the  development  of  these  ques- 
tions, since  they  raised  the  County  Medical  Society  to  its  present 
position,  and  caused  within  it  one  of  the  greatest  struggles  in  the 
history  of  Philadelphia  medicine,  whose  fading  memories  had  at  one 
time  something  of  the  sensitiveness  of  those  of  the  late  Civil  War. 
It  was  a  struggle,  the  effects  of  which  were  felt  throughout  the  med- 
ical world.  The  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  is,  virtually, 
though  not  actually,  the  oldest  medical  society  in  the  city,  for 
from  the  time  Morgan  organized  the  first  Philadelphia  medical 
society  down  to  the  present,  there  has  been  almost  without  cessa- 
tion a  popular  society  of  which  the  great  majority  of  the  physi- 
cians, great  and  small,  alike,  were  members.  Up  to  1817  these 
successive  organizations  were  the  popular  discursive  bodies  of  the 
profession,  with  hardly  the  dignity  of  the  College  of  Physicians, 
although  comprising  most  of  the  fellows  of  the  College  in  their 
membership.  In  1848  the  County  Society  was  founded.  Its  ori- 
gin, to  use  the  words  of  one  of  its  former. presidents,  Dr.  William 
Mayburry,  can  be  traced  "to  the  reflex  influence  which  the  insti- 
tution of  the  American  Medical  Association  exerted  on  the  profes- 
sional mind  of  the  country."  It  was  the  purpose  of  some  of  the 
far-seeing  founders  of  the  latter  organization,  notably  of  Dr.  N".  S. 
Davis,  that  its  delegates  should  be  solely  composed  of  members 
of  the  State  and  County  societies,  and  this  scheme  was  undoubtedly 
entertained  by  some  of  the  founders  of  the  Philadelphia  Society. 
The  prospect  of  such  an  alliance  imparted  new  dignity  and  activity 


I  \    PHIL  IDELPHIA.  ::■*! 

to  the  County  Society,  to  which  h  was  evidenl  thai  all  irital  pro- 
fessional questions,  such  ;is  those  relating  to  ethics,  the  admission 
of  women,  and  the  Like,  must  Booner  or  later  be  submitted,  and 
through  which  .ill  great  movements  of  medical  progress   initiated 

by  the  national  society  would  soon  be  represented  in  tliis  territory . 
From  that  time  until  L874,  when  the  project  was  realized,  was  ;> 
long  period  of  waiting,  and  during  it  all  the  most  serious  Leader 
of  opposition  was  tin-  College  of  Physicians,  supported  by  the  other 
medical  institutions  of  the  city.  The  College  of  Physicians,  by 
natural  position,  and  at  times  by  definitely  adopted  policy,  per- 
formed those  public  offices  of  wateltt illness  over  State  medicine 
that  are  now  more  naturally  undertaken  by  County  and  National 
bodies,  so  that  the  alliance  of  County,  State,  and  Nation  was  sug- 
gestive of  local  rights  giving  way  to  federation.  In  1M4  tlw- 
inevitable  was  accepted,  and  all  Philadelphia  institutions  ceased 
to  be  represented  in  the  national  body  as  institutions,  and  their 
members,  for  the  most  part  already  members  of  the  County  Society  , 
began  to  devote  more  attention  to  the  work  of  that  organization. 
They  were  not  slow  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  a  society 
through  which  alone  a  national  representation  could  be  secured. 
This  change  in  the  mode  of  representation  in  the  national  society 
was  not  secured  without  some  compromises  and  conciliations  to 
such  leaders  as  required  them.  That  they  were  wisely  made  is 
shown  by  the  remarkable  unity  of  the  Congress  of  1870,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  elder  Gross.  For  about  ten  years  this  dose  union 
of  the  profession  in  the  movements  of  the  national  body,  through 
the  County  Society,  was  productive  <»t  great  mutual  advantage  to 
the  profession  of  the  city,  and  that  of  the  nation.  Philadelphia's 
influence  upon  the  profession  at  large  was,  during  this  period,  wor- 
thy of  comparison  with  that  of  the  brightest  days  of  her  history. 
But  the  relations  of  the  County  Medical  Society  toward  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  profession  were  somewhat  strained,  on  account 
of  the  various  questions  already  mentioned,  and  it  only  needed 
the  loss  of  the  active  and  conciliatory  influence  of  such  a  wise 
leader  as  Gross  to  precipitate  a  struggle.  Nearly  every  question 
that  has  arisen  in  the  present  period     thai  of  the  code,  the  admis- 


382  HISTORY  OB1  MEDICINE 

sion  of  women,  and  others — were  in  active  discussion  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  decade  mentioned.  Trouble  arose  in  connection 
with  the  first  regular  International  Medical  Congress  held  in  the 
United  States.  It  will  be  recalled  that  the  Congress  of  1876  in 
Philadelphia  was  not  a  meeting  of  the  International  Medical  Con- 
gress proper,  but  the  latter  body  did  propose  to  hold  its  first  meet- 
ing in  the  United  States  at  Washington,  in  1887,  the  same  year, 
by  the  way,  that  the  College  of  Physicians  celebrated  its  centen- 
nial anniversary. 

At  the  Washington  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, in  1884,  its  president,  suggested  that  an  invitation  be 
extended  to  the  meeting  in  Copenhagen  to  hold  the  ninth  Interna- 
tional Medical  Congress  in  the  United  States  at  Washington,  in 
1S87.  In  accordance  with  this  suggestion,  it  was  decided  that  a 
committee  be  appointed  by  the  president  to  give  the  invitation  and, 
in  case  of  its  acceptance,  that  it  should  "proceed  to  act  as  an 
executive  committee,  with  full  power  to  fix  the  time  and  to  make 
all  necessary  and  suitable  arrangements  for  the  meeting  of  such 
congress,  and  to  solicit  funds  for  that  purpose,"  and  that  it  "have 
power  to  add  to  its  membership,  to  perfect  its  organization,"  and 
all  that  was  necessary  thereto.  President  H.  F.  Campbell,  of 
Georgia,  appointed  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  of  New  York;  Dr.  I.  Minis 
Hays,  of  Philadelphia;  Dr.  L.  A.  Sayre,  of  New  York;  Dr.  C.  John- 
son, of  Baltimore;  Dr.  George  Englemann,  of  St.  Louis;  Dr.  J.  M. 
Brown,  U.  S.  N.;  and  the  president  himself  was  added  by  vote, 
making  eight  members.  The  invitation  was  accepted;  the  com- 
mittee added  between  fifteen  and  twenty  prominent  members  of 
the  profession  to  its  list,  and  a  meeting  was  held  November  29, 
1884,  in  Washington.  A  sub-committee  of  the  original  eight  pre- 
sented an  outline  plan  of  organization  and  rules  similar  to  those 
governing  previous  congresses,  the  selection  of  names  being  based 
entirely  on  their  reputation  both  at  home  and  abroad,  without 
regard  to  sectional  or  society  representation.  Membership 
depended  upon  invitation  of  the  Executive  Committee.  This  plan 
was,  in  some  measure,  modified  so  as  to  secure  society  and  sectional 
representation,  and  a  slightly  wider  representation  of  officers  and 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

readers  of  papers.     The  <•»» iin<'«>  adjourned,  after  having  cho 

the  following  officers:  Dr.  Austin  Flint,  Sr.,  of  New  fork,  for 
president;  Drs.  Alfred  Siiiir-  r>f  Philadelphia,  l>r.  Benrj  I.  Bow- 
ditch  «»t'  Boston,  ;iml  Dr.  K.  P.  Howard  of  Montreal,  vice-presi 
dents;  Dr.  John  S.  Billings,  U,  S.  A.,  secretary-general;  Dr.  -I.  M. 
Brown,  '  .  s.  \.,  treasurer;  and  an  executive  committee,  composed 
of  the  president,  Becretary-general,  and  treasurer;  and  Dr.  I.  Minis 
Hays  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  A.  Jacob]  of  New  5Tork,  l>r.  Christopher 
Johnson  of  Baltimore,  and  Dr.  S.  C.  Busey  of  Washington.  This 
executive  committee  was  to  proceed  to  complete  the  work  of  organi- 
zation, and  ili»'  General  Committee  was  to  meet  some  time  before 
the  New  Orleans  meeting  of  the  national  society.  v,Th«-  Executive 
Committee,  however,"  says  an  editorial  in  the  -Ion, mil  of  tht  Limr- 
ican  Medical  Association,  "regarded  their  work  as  so  far  advanced 
as  to  render  a  meeting  of  tin-  General  Committee  in  New  Orleans 
unnecessary,  and  proceeded  to  the  publication  of  ili<ir  work  as 
far  as  completed.  This,  we  think,  Mas  an  unwise  step.  We  think 
the  <  leneral  Committee  should  have  assembled  at  New  <  Orleans  and 
reported  its  action  to  the  Association  before  its  formal  publication 
to  the  world.  It  would  have  afforded  an  opportunity  for  confer- 
ence and  adjustment  of  differences  at  once,  and  would  have  avoided 
the  charge  of  having  ignored  the  body  from  which  its  existence 
and  all  its  powers  had  been  derived.  If  an  error,  however,  it  was 
certainly  one  of  judgment  and  not  of  design.  Regarding  the  power 
conferred  upon  the  committee  by  the  resolutions  we  have  quoted, 
as  ample  and  unreserved,  the  members  were  simply  intent  on  the 
eai  ly  and  efficient  discharge  of  the  duties  imposed  on  them,  with- 
out, unnecessary  expenditure  of  time  and  money.  The  idea  that 
the  members  of  the  committee  having  charge  of  the  work  of  organ- 
izing the  International  Congress  had  acted  from  any  other  than 
an  honest  desire  to  execute  the  trust  committed  to  them  to  the  best 
of  their  ability,  is  without  the  slightest  foundation,  and  should  l>e 
discarded  by  any  honorable  mind.  But.  it  is  plainly  evident,  both 
from  the  expressions  in  a  large  part  of  the  medical  press,  and  from 
the  sentiments  freely  expressed  in  private  conversation,  as  well  as 
publicly,  thai   two  important,  errors  had  been  committed   in  the 


384  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

work  of  the  committee.  The  first  was  committed  by  the  original 
committee  of  eight  members,  appointed  at  Washington,  in  the 
selection  of  additional  members  of  their  own  body.  Actuated, 
perhaps,  by  an  injudicious  liberality,  it  is  claimed  that  they 
included  in  their  selection  some  who  had  placed  themselves  in 
antagonism  to  the  National  and  State  organizations  of  the  profes- 
sion, by  openly  repudiating  the  national  code  of  ethics,  which 
constitutes  the  common  bond  of  union  for  all  these  organizations. 
By  this  step,  they  placed  the  American  Medical  Association,  from 
which  the  committee  had  derived  all  its  power,  in  an  inconsistent 
position,  and  failed  to  sustain  the  large  majority  of  the  profession 
in  the  state  of  New  York  who  had  faithfully  sustained  the  national 
code,  and  maintained  their  fraternal  relations  to  the  national  and 
state  organizations  of  the  whole  country.  The  second  alleged 
error  consisted  simply  in  a  failure  on  the  part  of  the  enlarged  com- 
mittee to  appreciate  the  importance  of  so  distributing  the  officers 
of  sections  as  to  represent  and  interest,  as  far  as  possible,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  profession  in  all  the  leading  geographical  divisions  of 
our  country." 

Philadelphia  was  chiefly  connected  with  the  second  "alleged 
error,"  the  first  one  being  of  concern  to  New  York.  In  fact,  the 
struggle  was  primarily  one  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  leading 
the  great  eastern  cities,  versus  the  West  and  the  country  at  large. 
The  editor  of  The  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Dr.  I. 
Minis  Hays,  represented  Philadelphia,  or  that  part  of  Philadelphia 
which  stood  for  the  dominance  of  the  great  cities,  in  the  Executive 
Committee.  This  committee  claimed  that,  while  they  were 
appointed  by  the  American  Medical  Association,  they  were  to  fol- 
low the  precedent  of  the  international  body,  which  was  a  purely 
scientific  one,  unconcerned  with  codes  or  representation,  and  that 
there  was  a  considerable  and  able  minority  who  were  not  mem- 
bers of  the  national  society,  and  could  not  be  ignored.  The  posi- 
tion, character  and  ability  of  Dr.  Hays,  as  well  as  the  striking 
excellence  of  the  committee's  program,  led  the  profession  generally 
to  ascribe  it  to  his  influence.  A  single  glance  at  the  names  enrolled 
showed  an  array  of  the  ablest  scientific  medical  men  in  America, 


[N  PHILADELPHIA. 

who  would  be  recognized  everywhere  as  eminently  suitable  dele- 
gates to  such  ji  congress.  But,  ii  is  also  evidenl  a1  ;i  glance  that 
these  men  were  largely  from  Philadelphia  and  New  York  and  from 
distinguished  circles  in  those  cities.  1 1  mighl  have  been  contended 
by  some  thai  these  were  the  Datura!  places  in  which  to  look  for 
America's  most  distinguished  medical  men,  but  the  democratic 
spirit,  of  the  American  Medical  Association  manifested  itself, 
demanding  thai  the  national  body  and  those  in  sympathy  with  it 
si i on  hi  be  the  only  representatives  in  i  he  coming  congress,  and  thai 
all  sections  should  be  given  recognition  on  the  program.  The 
leader  in  this  movement  in  Philadelphia  \\;is  Dr.  John  V.  Shoe- 
maker, a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College, 
who  had  but  recently  boon  a  participanl  in  the  International  Con- 
gress. At.  the  New  Orleans  meeting  of  the  national  society  in 
1885,  after  the  program  had  been  practically  completed  and  pub- 
lished, the  opposition  to  it  became  so  formidable  thai  a  resolution 
was  passed  on  April  2!>,  to  the  effect  that  the  General  Committee 
"be  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  thirty-eight  members,  one  from 
each  State  and  Territory,  the  army,  the  navy,  ami  marine  hospital 
service,"  and  a  few  days  later  the  General  Committee  thus  bo  be 
enlarged  was  defined  as  t(t7ie  original  committee  of  seven!"  This 
of  course  removed  all  the  previous  additional  members,  and  made 
it  evident,  that  the  offending  program  should  be  thoroughly  remod- 
eled on  the  lines  .above  indicated.  The  result  was  m  wholesale 
resignation  of  nearly  all  those  connected  with  the  first  program, 
and  a  general  exodus  of  many  of  their  sympathizers  from  any  con- 
nection with  the  congress,  while  the  whole  affair  wns  Looked  upon 
as  an  unfortunate  scandal  in  the  history  of  the  international  body. 
It  was  a  struggle  that  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  the  principles  of 
the  American  Medical  Association  and  its  claims  to  represent  the 
profession  in  this  country.  The  new  committee  me1  at  once,  while 
at.  New  Orleans,  ami  elected  Dr.  K.  Beverlj  Cole  of  San  Francisco 
temporary  chairman,  and  Dr.  John  V.  Shoemaker  temporary  sec- 
retary, and  these,  with  a  vice-president,  were  soon  made  permanent. 
Those  Philadelphians  who  became  presidents  <>f  sections  for  thei  e 
were  none  among  the  proposed  officers  of   the    Congress— were: 

25 


386  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Dr.  Henry  H.  Smith,  formerly  of  the  University  Medical  School; 
Dr.  W.  H.  Pancoast  of  the  Medico-Ohirurgical  College,  and  one 
other,  who  soon  resigned.  The  new  Executive  Committee  consisted 
of  Drs.  Austin  Flint  of  New  York,  president;  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  of  Chi- 
cago, secretary-general;  Dr.  Richard  J.  Dimglison  of  Philadelphia, 
Dr.  Henry  H.  Smith  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  W.  H.  Pancoast  of  Phila- 
delphia, Dr.  A.  B.  Arnold  of  Baltimore,  Dr.  E.  S.  F.  Arnold  of  New 
York,  Dr.  A.  B.  Bobinson  of  New  York,  Dr.  J.  Lewis  Smith  of  New 
York,  Dr.  W.  T.  Briggs  of  Nashville,  Dr.  J.  Taft  of  Cincinnati,  Dr. 
J.  P.  Gray  of  Utica,  and  Dr.  S.  J.  Jones  of  Chicago.  Drs.  Smith  and 
Dunglison  became  respectively  permanent  chairman  and  secre- 
tary, and,  later,  Dr.  William  B.  Atkinson  of  Philadelphia,  who  has 
so  long  served  the  national  society  as  secretary,  was  made  an  asso- 
ciate secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee.  Overtures  were  again 
made  to  a  number  of  the  eminent  men,  who  had  withdrawn  their 
support,  with  a  view  to  their  taking  part  in  the  program,  but  these 
were  not  successful.  The  president,  Dr.  Flint,  died  before  the  time 
for  the  meeting  at  Washington  arrived,  and  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  became 
his  successor  as  chief  executive  of  the  Ninth  International  Medical 
Congress,  the  first  and  only  one  so  far  held  in  the  United  States, 
The  action  of  the  American  Medical  Association  was  naturally 
resented  by  the  leaders  of  the  profession  in  Philadelphia,  and  this 
resentment  was  not  long  in  manifesting  itself.  In  October,  1885, 
nominations  for  delegates  to  the  Association  were  made  and  a  copy 
of  the  ticket  was  sent  to  every  member  of  the  society,  with  the 
notice  of  the  January  meeting.  Shortly  before  this  meeting  a  new 
ticket  was  issued,  which,  at  the  January  meeting,  was  elected  by 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  169  to  36.  The  first,  or  regular,  ticket 
was  largely  composed  of  indorsers  of  the  action  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  at  New  Orleans;  the  second,  of  those  who 
were  "opposed  to  this  action  and  the  dissensions  it  has  engendered 
in  the  profession.'" 

On  May  4,  1886,  when  the  American  Medical  Association  met 
at  St.  Louis,  under  the  presidency  of  Dr.  William  Brodie  of  Detroit, 
the  delegates  from  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  were 
not  permitted  to  register  as  such,  on  the  ground  that  a  protest  had 


IN   PH1LADBLPH1  \. 

been  filed  againsl  their  admission.  '>n  their  inquiring  concerning 
the  nature  of  the  protest,  thej  were  referred  to  the  Judicial  Council. 
On  May  5th  a  committee  of  the  Philadelphia  delegation  appeared 
before  the  Judicial  Council,  which  ;i  I  lowed  but  one  of  its  memb*-r« 
to  testify.  No  report  of  the  Judicial  Council  was  road  at  tin*  gen- 
era!  meeting  of  that  day,  although  it  was  known  to  have  been 
given  in  i  he  permanent  secretary  of  tin-  Association.  On  the  same 
day  Dr.  John  B.  Roberts,  chain  nan  of  the  committee  of  the  Phila- 
delphia delegation,  was  informed  by  a  member  of  the  Judicial 
Council  that  this  body  had  decided  in  favor  of  I  lie  admission  of  the 
Philadelphia  delegation  and  that  this  decision  had  been  handed  to 
President  Brodie,  to  be  read  at  the  close  of  Dr.  Senn's  address. 
The  Philadelphia  delegation  was  then  allowed  to  register  as  dele- 
gates to  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  did  so.  On  1 1n- 
following  day,  on  motion  of  Dr.  Toner,  the  chairman  of  the  Judicial 
Council,  the  report  of  that  body  was  referred  back  for  the  hearing 
of  further  evidence,  and  "at  length,  within  an  hour  of  the  closing  of 
the  last  session  of  the  annual  meeting,  a  report  from  the  Judicial 
Council,  containing  the  following  remarkable  decision,  was  read: 

"  'In  tlie  case  of  the  protest  again  the  registration  of  the  dele- 
gates from  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society,  which,  upon 
petition,  was  reopened  to  admit  new  testimony,  after  a  long  and 
careful  reexamination,  including  evidence  not  before  presented, 
the  Judicial  Council  decide  that,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  said 
delegates  hold  documents  usually  entitling  to  registration,  it  also 
appeared  in  evidence  that  the  methods  employed  at  their  election 
were  of  such  an  irregular  character  as  to  compel  their  rejection  as 
delegates  by  the  council.  The  council  would  also  suggest  the  return 
of  any  dues  which  may  have  been  paid  to  the  treasurer  by  said 
delegates.  The  council  also  refers  the  protest,  and  all  the  papers 
accompanying  it,  to  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  for 
adjudication.'  " 

Dr.  John  B.  Roberts  then  offered  a  series  of  resolutions,  con- 
taining <?ight  questions  concerning  the  action  of  the  Judicial  Coun- 
cil. They  were  seconded  by  Dr.  Charles  K.  Mills,  and  were 
promptly  laid  on  the  table.    Whereupon  Dr.  Roberts  resigned  the 


388  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

position  of  secretary  of  the  Section  on  Anatomy  and  Surgery  for 
1887,  to  which  he  had  recently  been  elected.  Dr.  Edward  Jacksoa 
presented  a  protest  against  the  action  of  the  Judicial  Council, 
which  was  signed  by  Drs.  Roberts,  Jackson,  W.  Joseph  Hearn. 
Charles  K.  Mills,  L.  D.  Judd  and  R.  M.  Girvin.  The  protest  was 
laid  on  the  table. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Soci- 
ety, held  May  18,  1886,  the  delegates  of  the  society  to  the  thirty- 
seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  sub- 
mitted their  report,  which,  being  received,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  offered  by  Dr.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  and  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society  has 
learned  with  surprise  of  the  action  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, at  St.  Louis,  in  excluding  the  duly  elected  delegates  from 
this  society; 

"Resolved,  That,  as  the  subject  has  been  referred  back  to  this 
society  for  final  action,  the  legality  of  said  election  is  hereby  reaf- 
firmed, and  that,  Avhile  it  would  be  perfectly  right  for  the  delegates 
to  vindicate  the  validity  of  their  election  by  a  resort  to  legal 
measures,  yet,  in  the  interest  of  peace,  such  action  is  not  urged; 

"Resolved,  That  in  excluding  the  delegates  from  this  society 
the  Judicial  Council  has  violated  the  plain  rules  of  evidence  and 
justice." 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  history  of  this  unfortunate  episode.  Refer- 
ring the  reader  to  the  admirable  report  of  the  delegates  for  full 
details  of  the  transaction,  it  need  only  be  added  that  the  validity 
of  the  election  of  the  Philadelphia  delegation  was  affirmed  by  two 
eminent  authorities  on  parliamentary  law:  Col.  A.  K.  McClure  and 
the  late  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Randall. 

This  cleavage  in  the  profession  was  thought,  for  a  time,  to  be 
a  serious  menace  to  the  success  of  the  Congress,  and  it  undoubtedly 
did  interfere  with  it  to  some  degree;  but,  on  the  whole,  it  was  suc- 
cessful. Doubtless,  at  the  time,  all  acted  conscientiously;  but  few 
would  now  deny  that  the  disagreement  was  a  great  misfortune, 
which  a  little  more  wisdom  might  easily  have  avoided.  For  a  while 
its  effects  were  very  marked,  but  a  decade  has  passed  since  then. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

and  Time  Uaa  shown  his  usual  power  in  removing  obstacles  and  in 
smoothing  rougli  places;  so  thai  the  day  may  soon  come  when  all 
traces  «»t'  the  unfortunate  difference  will  have  disappeared  from  the 
practical  life  of  the  profession,  if  they  have  n«>t  done  so  already. 

The  County  Society  has  thus  naturally  taken  the  lead  in  the 
two  great  international  gatherings.  These  have  been  great  events 
in  its  history,  but  it  has  ;ilso  had  a  prominent  place  iii  all  public  pro- 
fessional movements  by  virtue  of  its  connection  with  the  National 
and  State  bodies.  'Phis  connection,  too,  has  been  far  more  intim 
than  that  of  almost  any  other  county  society  in  the  entire  country, 
because  Philadelphia  h;is  boon  so  preeminently  the  homo  of  the 
national  body  ami  of  its  permanent  officers  ever  since  its  organiza- 
tion fifty  years  ago.  This  has  boon  happily  recognized  in  the  cele- 
bration here  of  the  semi-centennial  jubilee  of  the  national  society 
during  1897.  The  latter  is  an  event  of  such  recent  occurrence,  and 
so  identified  with  the  entire  profession  of  the  city,  that  it  will  be 
noticed  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 

The  successive  presidents  Of  the  County  Society,  since  it  took 
that  form  in  1849,  have  been  as  follows:  Samuel  Jackson,  M.  1)., 
1849-52;  John  F.  Lamb,  M.  ]>.,  1853;  Thomas  F.  Betton,  M.  I).,  1854; 
D.  Francis  Condie,  M.  D.,  1855;  Wilson  Jewell,  M.  I).,  1856;  Gouv- 
erneur  Emerson,  M.  1).,  1857;  John  Bell,  M.  I).,  1858;  Benjamin  H. 
Coates,  M.  D.,  1859;  Isaac  Remington,  M.  P.,  1860;  Joseph  ''arson, 
M.  D.,  1801;  Alfred  Stille,  M.  L).,  1862;  Samuel  D.  dross,  M.  1).,  1863; 
Lewis  P.  Gebhard,  M.  J).,  1864;  Nathan  L.  Hatfield,  M.  !>.,  18C5; 
William  Mayburry,  M.  1).,  1866;  Andrew  Nebinger,  M.  l>.,  1867; 
George  Hamilton,  M.  D.,  1868;  William  L.  Knight,  Bff.  D.,  1809; 
William  H.  Pancoast, M. D.,  1870;  James  Aitken  Meigs,  M.  D.,  1871; 
D.  Hayes  Agnew,  M.  D.,  1872;  William  B.  Atkinson.  M.  D.,  1873; 
Washington  L.  Atlee,  M.  D.,  L874;  William  Goodell,  M.  D.,  L875; 
Thomas  M.  Drysdale,  M.  D.,  L876;  Henry  H.  Smith.  M.  1)..  L877-79; 
Albert  11.  Smith,  M.  D.,  1880-81;  Horace  V.  Evans,  .M.  D.,  1882; 
William  M.  Welch,  M.  D.,  1883-84;  Richard  J.  Levis.  M.  D.,  1885-86; 
J.  Solis-Cohen,  M.  D.,  L887-88;  W.  W.  Keen,  M.  I>.,  1889-90;  John  B. 
Roberts,  M.  D.,  1891-92;  De  Forest  Willard,  M.  I  >..  L893-94;  J.  C. 
Wilson,  M.  D.,  1895-96,  and  James  Tyson.  M.  1)..  the  present  incum- 


390  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

bent.  The  present  officers,  besides  President  Tyson,  are  as  follows : 
Edward  Jackson,  M.  D.,  first  vice-president;  S.  Solis-Cohen,  M.  D.7 
second  vice-president;  Collier  L.  Bower,  M.  D.,  treasurer;  John 
Lindsay,  M.  D.,  secretary;  Elwood  E.  Kirby,  M.  D.,  assistant  secre- 
tary; Drs.  W.  M.  Welch  (secretary),  H.  St.  Clair  Ash,  Thomas  H. 
Fenton,  F.  P.  Henry  and  W.  Joseph  Hearn,  censors;  Drs.  Henry 
Beates,  Howard  F.  Hansell,  Joseph  S.  Gibbs,  Charles  W.  Burr  and 
T.  Mellor  Tyson,  directors;  and  Drs.  A.  A.  Eshner,  Thomas  G.  Ash- 
ton  and  A.  O.  J.  Kelly,  committee  on  publication.  The  membership 
of  the  society  now  numbers  nearly  seven  hundred,  making  it  by  far 
the  largest  and  most  powerful  organization  in  the  city. 

The  American  Medical  Association  is  not  the  only  national  as- 
sociation that  has  been  organized  in  Philadelphia.    Several  others 
have  originated  here.  The  American  Surgical  Association,  founded 
by  Dr.  Gross,  has  already  been  mentioned.     The  Association  of 
American  Physicians  is  another,  a  limited  body  for  "the  advance- 
ment of  scientific  and  practical  medicine,"  organized  largely  by 
those  who  were  not  in  sympathy  with  the  course  taken  by    the 
American  Medical  Association  in  regard  to  the  Congress  of  1887. 
Its  first  session  was  held  in  1886,  Dr.  Francis  Delafield  of  New 
York  and  Dr.  Wier  Mitchell  being,  respectively,  its  first  and  sec- 
ond  presidents.     It   aims   to   be  "an  association  in  which  there 
will  be  no  medical  politics  and  no  medical  ethics,"  but  one  devoted 
to  purely  scientific  and  practical  medicine.     The  Congress  of  1876 
produced  another  national  society,  which  was  organized  in  Phila- 
delphia on  September  6,  of  that  same  year.    This  was  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Medicine,  the  design  of  which  was  to  draw  together 
those  of  the  profession  who  were  alumni  of  some  classical,  scien- 
tific or  medical  institution,  and  to  advocate  a  higher  general  educa- 
tion for  physicians,  preparatory  to  professional  study.   Dr.  Traill 
Green  was  the  first  president.  The  present  period  has  been  prolific 
of  such  movements.     Philadelphia  has  also  been  the  chief  head- 
quarters of  the  State  Society,  and  all  movements  connected  with 
medical  activity  in  this  State,  so  that  the  medical  history  of  Penn- 
sylvania must  always  give  its  metropolis  the  very  largest  predomi- 
nance. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  391 

Societies  purely  local  claim  the  chief  interest,  and  the  present 
period  abounds  in  these,  which  are  Dearly  all  of  ;i  specialist  charac- 
ter. There  are  the  Pathological  Society,  the  Obstetrical  Society,  th<- 
Medico-Legal  Society,  (ho  Neurological  Society,  the  Laryngological 
Society,  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  Society  and  the  Association  of 
Hospital  Physicians.  I ndeed,  except  the  Northern  Medical  -\ 
ciation,  which  traces  its  organization  to  so  ancient  a  date  as  Decern- 
ber5, 1846,  at  the  Noil  horn  Dispensary,  and  which  has  had  an  influ- 
ential career  in  that  section  of  the  <iiy,  the  alumni  associations 
of  the  colleges,  the  women's  societies,  the  smaller  clubs,  quiz  a  — 
ciations  and  the  like,  whoso  aumberis  Large,  are  all  special  societies 
devoted  to  some  particular  branch  of  research  or  practice,  or  to 
merely  social  entertainment. 

The  oldest  and  largest  of  them  is  the  Pathological  Society, 
which  has  exercised  more  influence  on  the  profession  of  tin-  city 
than  all  the  others,  either  special  or  general.  This  society,  as  has 
been  said  elsewhere,  is  the  second  of  that  name,  the  one  founded  by 
Gerhard  being  the  first;  the  present  society  being  founded  by  Dr. 
S.  D.  Gross  at  the  "Hospital  Building,  Spruce  street,  above  Light  h.*' 
on  October  14,  1857,  not  long  after  his  arrival  from  the  West.  It 
proposed  "the  cultivation  and  promotion  of  the  study  of  Pathology, 
by  the  exhibition  and  description  of  specimens,  drawings  and 
other  representations  of  morbid  pans,"  and  was  an  actively  work- 
ing body,  from  its  Aery  beginning.  The  first  officers  chosen  were 
Dr.  Gross  as  president;  Drs.  La  Roche  and  Stille  as  vice-presidents, 
Dr.  Addinell  Hewson  as  treasurer,  Dr.  1  >a  Costa  as  secretary,  and 
Dr.  T.  G.  Morton  as  assistant  secretary,  and  the  first  specimen  was 
exhibited  by  Dr.  S.  Wier  Mitchell.  The  members  of  the  society 
down  to  about  the  opening  of  the  civil  war  were:  Drs.  !>.  Hayes 
Agnew,  0.  S.  Boker,  J.  II.  Brinton,  J.  M.  Da  Oosta,  J.  T.  Darby, 
James  Darrach,  Emil  Fischer.  \Y.  s.  Forbes,  S.  1>.  Gross,  S.  W. 
Gross,  A.  D.  Hall,  Ot.C.  Harlan,  R.  P.  Harris,  Edward  Hartshorne, 
Henry  Hartshorne,  Addinell  Hewson,  H.  Lenox  Hodge.  William  1 ». 
Hoyt,  George  H.  Humphreys,  .fames  Hutchinson,  John  K.  Kane. 
W.  V.  Keating,  \Y.  Keller,  Rene*  La  Roche,  James  J.  Levick,  Samuel 

Lewis,  B.  Livezey.  J.  F.  Meigs.  S.  W.  Mitchell,  <Jeo.    R.   BfoorehOUSe, 


392  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

T.  G.  Morton,  William  Moss,  J.  H.  Packard,  K.  A.  F.  Penrose,  T.  B. 
Reed,  Albert  H.  Smith,  Francis  G.  Smith,  Alfred  Stille,  Ellwood 
Wilson  and  J.  J.  Woodward,  not  including  corresponding  members, 
of  whom  there  were  ten. 

Its  successive  presidents  have  been:  Samuel  D.  Gross,  M.  D., 
LL.  D.,  I).  C.  L.,  Oxon.,  LL.  D.  Cantab.,  elected  in  1857;  Rene  La 
Roche,  M.  D.,  elected  in  1858;  Alfred  Stille,  M.  D.,  elected  in  1859, 
'61  and  '62;  Edward  Hartshome,  M.  D.,  elected  in  1860  and  '63; 
J.  M.  Da  Costa,  M.  D.,  elected  1864,  '65  and  '66;  John  H.  Packard, 
M.  D.,  elected  in  1867-8;  S.  Wier  Mitchell,  M.  D.,  elected  in  1869; 
John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  M.  D.,  in  1870;  James  H.  Hutchinson,  M.  D., 
1871  and  '72;  William  Pepper,  M.  D.,  1873,  for  three  years;  H. 
Lenox  Hodge,  M.  1).,  1876;  S.  W.  Gross,  M.  D.,  1879;  James  Tyson, 
M.  D.,  elected  in  1882  and  '83;  E.  O.  Shakespeare,  M.  D.,  elected  in 
1884;  J.  G.  Wilson,  M.  D.,  1885  and  '86;  F.  P.  Henry,  M.  D.,  1887  and 
'88;  Henry  V.  Formad,  M.  D.,  1889-90;  Arthur  V.  Meigs,  M.  D.,  1891 
and  '92;  J.  H.  Musser,  M.  I).,  1893. 

"On  the  evening  of  the  29th  of  September,  1857,"  said  Presi- 
dent Hutchinson,  then  the  oldest  elected  member,  in  his  annual 
address  in  1873,  "twent}r-seven  gentlemen,  all  of  them,  with 
scarcely  a  single  exception,  either  at  that  time  distinguished,  or 
having  since  become  so,  met  at  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  M.  -Da  Costa  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  the  Pathological  Society.  The  meeting 
was  called  to  order  b}^  the  selection  of  Professor  Samuel  D.  Gross 
as  chairman  and  of  Dr.  Da  Costa  as  secretary.  At  this  meeting  little 
was  done  beyond  appointing  one  committee  to  make  a  draft  for  a 
constitution,  and  another  to  select  a  place  of  meeting.  You  are 
probably  aware  that  permission  to  use  one  of  the  lower  rooms  in 
the  building  formerly  called  the  Picture  House,  and  now  occupied 
by  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania  (j),  was  granted  by  the 
managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  that  the  society  con- 
tinued to  meet  there  for  nearly  two  years,  or  until  March  13,  1867, 
when,  after  proper  consideration,  it  was  determined  that  the  inter- 
ests of  the  society  would  be  advanced  by  a  removal  to  our  present 

hall Anyone  Avho  will  take  the  trouble   to    read    the 

minutes  of  the  early  meetings  of  the  society  will  find    that    an 


IN    PHIL  V.DELPHIA. 

enthusiasm  for  the  Btudj  of  morbid  anatomy  was  at  once  devel- 
oped l»\  its  establishment,  which  continued  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  late  rebellion,  when  ili<-  society,  in  common  with  man}  other 
scientific  l»"di<->.  sufifei  ed  severely.     For  n<>i  only  did  the  armj  draw 

<»ff  ;n  once  m;iii\  of  our  most  active  members,  hut  there  was  an 
inability  ob  the  pari  of  those  who  remained  to  divert  their  thoughts 
from  tin*  all-absorbing  topic  of  the  war.  We,  therefore,  find  thai 
the  meetings  during  L861,  I*«'»l\  l*<'..5  and  ls<il  were  very  poorly 
attended,  and  that  the  specimens  exhibited  were  almost  wholly 
derived  from  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  Indeed,  on  mans  occa- 
sions, do  quorum  was  obtained,  and  i  here  can  be  no  doubl  thai  the 
society  would  have  ceased  to  exisi  but  for  the  determination  ol  a 
very  t'.-u  of  the  members,  to  whose  exertions,  during  thai  very  try- 
ing period  of  iis  history,  I  believe,  we  owe,  in  large  measure,  the 
fad  tIkii  we  celebrate  to-night  its  sixteenth  anniversary.  The 
interest  in  pathology,  which  had  slumbered  during  the  war,  was 
again  aroused  ar  its  close,  from  which  time  our  minutes  afford,  in  ' 
the  main,  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  progress  of  our  society." 
In  1865  a  curator  was  added  to  the  list,  of  officers,  and  in  L869,  a 
recorder,  and  by  187(1  there  were  1*52  active  members.  Various 
changes  and  additions  have  been  made,  but  a  general  characteriza- 
tion of  its  work  since  then  has  been  made  by  one  of  its  late  presi- 
dents in  his  address  in  1889.  "At  one  time  in  the  history  of  this 
society/-  said  he,  "there  was  a  tendency  to  cultivate  the  study  of  his- 
tology to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else.  Frequently  the  only 
part  of  a  specimen  presented  here  was  to  be  found  under  the 
microscope,  the  tumor  of  which  it  was  a  sample  being  considered 
so  unimportant  in  comparison  with  its  minute  structure  thai  it 
was  thought  unnecessary  to  exhibit  it.  It  seems  to  me  thai  there 
is  now  ;i  tendency  to  go  to  the  opposite  extreme.  For  example,  ;it  a 

very  recent  meeting  several  specimens  of  carcinoma  were  pre- 
sented, in  none  of  which  had  there  been  a  microscopical  examina- 
tion. The  tendency  referred  to  is  not  confined  i<»  this  society,  and 
is  doubi  l.-ss  .me  result  of  the  present  intense  interest  in  bacteriol- 
ogy." 

The  ether  leading  s<»i  i.-iics  are  all  special,  except  the  Northern 


394  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Medical  Association. ,  This  society  is  next  to  the  oldest  of  the 
medical  societies  of  Philadelphia,  the  College  of  Physicians  being 
of  greater  age.  The  society  was  organized  in  1846,  and  has  existed 
from  that  to  the  present,  notwithstanding  the  customary  ups  and 
downs  peculiar  to  the  periods  through  which  it  has  passed.  Since 
its  reorganization  in  1884  it  has  been  unusually  successful  and 
active;  its  membership  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  it  soon  promises 
to  attain  the  proud  position  it  held  in  its  youth,  as  the  most  promi- 
nent of  the  successful  medical  societies  of  Philadelphia. 

Its  constitution  and  by-laws  were  adopted  on  January  7,  1847. 
Dr.  Wilson  Jewell  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  active  in 
the  proceedings. 

On  February  18,  1847,  the  society  elected  delegates  to  the 
American  Medical  Association,  and  this  measure  was  annually 
repeated  until  1874,  after  which  year  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation refused  to  receive  delegates  from  any  other  than  regularly 
organized  county  societies. 

In  1848,  delegates  were  sent  to  aid  in  the  formation  of  the 
State  Medical  Society.  The  first  annual  oration  was  delivered  by 
Dr.  Arnold  Naudain,  at  the  hall  southeast  corner  of  Seventh  and 
Callowhill  streets,  January  7,  1848,  the  members  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society  being  invited. 
The  second  oration  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Isaac  Remington,  January 
6,  1849,  at  the  hall  northeast  corner  Eighth  and  Button  wood 
streets. 

Until  January  27,  1881,  when  the  association  moved,  with  the 
Northern  Dispensary,  to  608  Coates  street,  the  meetings  had  been 
regularly  held  at  603  Spring  Garden  street,  the  old  hall  of  the  dis- 
pensary. In  1883,  on  December  14,  the  Philadelphia  Clinical 
Society  was  organized,  and  the  Northern  Medical  Society  became 
amalgamated  with  it,  but  in  1884,  on  May  29,  it  was  reorganized 
under  its  original  name,  and  has  continued  in  a  flourishing  condi- 
tion to  the  present  time. 

On  December  5,  1896,  was  the  commemoration  of  the  semi- 
centennial of  the  existence  of  the  society. 

The  Northern  Medical  Association  was  the  first  to  admit  women 


l\   PHILADELPHIA. 

in  the  days  when  they  were  striving  for  admission  to  the  County 
Medical  Society. 

The  follow  ii'-  is  a  lisl  of  the  presidents  since  1846:  L846, 
Arnold  Naudain;  lsiT,  Thomas  II.  Xardhv ;  imt.  Nathan  L.  M;n 
field;  1847  to  1853,  Benjamin  8.  Janney;  L854,  Nathan  L.  Batfiel  I; 
1855, M. B. Smith ;  L856,J.P.  Lamb;  L857,  Nathan  L.  Hatfield;  L858, 
Wm.  May  burn;  L859,  L<-\  i  Curtis;  1  x<;o,  Jos.  K.  Bryan;  lsr.i.  Lewie 
P. Gerhard;  1SG2,  Owen  Us ler;  L863,  Allied  M.  Slocum;  L864,  John 
Khein;  1805,  Chas.  F.  Wittig;  1866,  J.  Henry  Smaltz;  1867,  Root 
Bums;  1868,  E.  B.  Shapleigh;  1870,  W  m.  M.  Welch;  1871,.  James 
Collins;  1872,  L.  P.  Deal;  1873,  Nathan  L.  Hatfield;  1874,  E.  I.  San- 
tee;  1875,  J.  Solis-Coheu;  1870,  Chas.  K.  Mills;  1877,  S.  R.  Knight; 
1878,  L.  B.  Hall;  1879,  Edw.  R.  Stone;  1880,  E.  E.  Montgomery; 
1881,  James  13.  Walker;  1882,  Henry  W.  Rihl;  1883,  J.  T.  Eskridge; 
1884,  Nathan  L.  Hatfield;  1884,  Robert  II.  Hess;  Lssr,,  Philip  L.idy; 
1886,  II.  C.  Paist;  1887,  Silas  Updegrove;  1888,  Geo.  W.  Vogler; 
1889,  Jos.  S.  Gibb;  1890,  James  Collius;  1891,  Chas.  P.  Noble;  1892, 
I.  P.  Stritt  matter;  1893,  Daniel  Longaker;  1894,  Samuel  Wolfe; 
1895,  H.  B.  Nightingale;  1896,  E.  B.  Gleasou;  1897,  P.  N.  K. 
Schwenk. 

The  present  officers  of  the  Northern  Medical  Association  an*  as 
follows:  President,  Dr.  P.  N.  K.  Schwenk;  vice-president.  Dr. 
Thomas  Scunner;  secretary,  Dr.  John  Gordon  Ross;  treasurer.  Dr. 
John  W.  Millick;  corresponding  secretary,  Dr.  H.  Paist;  librarian. 
Dr.  Robert  Hess;  censors,  Drs.  H.  Rihl,  David  Longaker,  Robert 
Hess,  Silas  Updegrove,  Thomas  Shriner. 

After  the  Pathological  Society  came  the  Obstetrical  Society, 
which  was  organized  in  1868,  with  Francis  Gurne\  Smith  as  presi- 
dent. Its  successive  executives  have  been  Drs.  Roberl  P.  Harris, 
William  Goodell,  A.  H.  Smith,  John  S.  Parry,  John  H.  Packard, 
L.  D.  Harlow,  E.  L.  Dner,  R.  A.  <  Jleemann,  B.  F.  Baer,  T.  M.  1  >rysdale, 
Theophilus  Parvin,  W.  H.  Parish,  \Y.  II.  Githens,  B.  C.  Hirst,  W.  II. 
Parish  and  E.  E.  Montgomery.  Jn  1ST7  the  Medico-Legal  Society 
was  organized  at  Twentieth  street  and  Ridge  avenue,  for  practical 
protective  purposes  of  a  professional  and  semilegal  character,  and 
has,  since  the  correction  of  the  abuses  it  attacked,  taken  on  a  more 


390  HISTOKY  OF  MEDICINE 

purely  professional  character  along  medico-legal  lines.  The  Medical 
Jurisprudence  Society,  devoted  purely  to  medico-legal  science, 
was  organized  in  1884  bj  Dr.  Henry  Leffmann,  Mr.  Hampton  L. 
Carson  and  others,  with  Dr.  S.  D.  Gross  as  its  first  president.  In 
1879  Drs.  S.  D.  Gross,  Agnew,  Levis,  Hewson,  T.  G.  Morton,  W.  H. 
Pancoast,  J.  H.  Brinton,  Packard,  S.  W.  Gross  and  Mears  organ- 
ized the  Academy  of  Surgery,  which  has  had  a  successful  career. 
In  1880  Dr.  J.  Solis-Cohen  and  others  organized  the  Laryngological 
Society,  and  Dr.  Solis-Cohen  was  made  its  first  president,  and  in 
1883  Dr.  C.  K.  Mills  and  others  formed  the  Neurological  Society,  of 
which  Dr.  S.  Wier  Mitchell  was  made  the  first  executive.  The  Asso- 
ciation of  Hospital  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Philadelphia  was 
formed  in  1892  for  the  purpose  of  giving  professional  visitors  to  the 
city  every  facility  for  attending  hospital  clinics.  The  Pediatric 
Society  of  the  present  year  is  the  most  recent  organization.  Besides 
these  special  societies  there  are  numerous  clubs  for  social  pur- 
poses. 

While  the  societies  and  colleges  have  a  certain  similarity  in 
their  influence  upon  the  profession,  both  locally  and  nationally,  the 
third  great  branch  of  medical  activity  differs  widely  from  both  of 
them.  The  hospitals  and  their  natural  allies,  the  dispensaries,  are 
more  and  more  becoming  the  great  laboratories  of  the  medical  fra- 
ternity. From  the  professional  point  of  view,  the  hospitals  are  the 
foundation  of  all  medical  activity,  without  which  there  could 
scarcely  exist  either  colleges  or  societies.  "Where  the  hospitals  are, 
there  the  other  institutions  are  also,''  may  be  said  of  any  city,  and 
the  fact  is  faithfully  illustrated  in  the  progress  of  medicine  in 
Philadelphia.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital of  1751  was  the  foundation  of  this  city's  great  medical  career, 
and  that  the  advance  of  the  present  period  is  due  to  the  large  num- 
ber and  capacity  of  the  hospitals.  And  yet  there  was  a  time  when 
this  relation  was  not  appreciated  by  the  profession.  Fortunately,  its 
importance  was  recognized  by  a  far-seeing  surgeon-physician  almost 
a  century  and  a  half  ago,  and  the  fact  that  Philadelphia  is  a  great 
hospital  center  is  largely  due  to  Dr.  Thomas  Bond.  Hospitals  arise 
from  various  motives.  The  compassion  of  Christian  communities  for 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

the  bodily  and  spiritual  condition  of  I  h<-  afflicted  is  one  of  their  moat 
fruitful  sources.  II.  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  desire  to  help 
tjae  mentally  diseased  was  the  motive  of  the  earliesl  efforts  in  this 
direction.  The  Friends  made  the  ftrsl  attempl  at  n  li(»s|iital  proper 
in  17()!»,  though  it  \v;ix  not  Immediately  successful,  and  their  l<-;i«l 
has  been  followed  since  by  Episcopalians,  Roman  ('at holies  and 
almost  every  other  religious  body  of  any  prominence  in  the  city. 
These  denominational  institutions  have  been  governed  by  benevo 
lent  and  religious  motives;  but  few  of  them  granl  free  admission 
to  all  applicants.  In  consequence,  each  one  has  its  special  excel- 
lence. Charitable  motives  prevail  in  denominational  institutions; 
the  desire  for  public  safety,  as  regards  health,  controls  the  hospitals 
founded  by  the  city,  state  or  nation.  In  some  cases,  the  medical  pro- 
fession has  been  given  opportunities  to  make  the  hospitals  con- 
tributory to  medical  advancement,  as  great  laboratories  for  the 
education  and  research  of  physicians  and  surgeons.  Sometimes 
interest  in  special  diseases  produces  a  special  hospital,  like  the 
Wills,  the  Orthopaedic  or  the  Rush.  Sometimes  residents  and  citi- 
zens of  foreign  birth  are  so  numerous  and  so  affluent  as  to  be  able 
to  provide  a  hospital  for  those  of  their  own  race.  A  grand  example 
of  this  mode  of  origin  is  furnished  by  the  German  Hospital.  The 
ever-present  necessities  in  connection  with  child-birth  have  given 
rise  to  hospitals  for  women  and  children.  Those  believing  in  exclu- 
sive systems  of  medicine  have  hospitals  proportionate  to  their 
strength  locally.  But  the  hospitals  most,  intimately  connected  wit  li 
the  medical  profession  at  large,  and  most  influential,  are  those  in 
which  facilities  for  research  or  instruction  have  gained  a  place  in 
the  policy  of  the  management.  Such  is  the  case  in  the  oldest  hos- 
pital—the Pennsylvania,  which  is  the  great  type  of  the  general 
hospital.    Such  is  also  the  case  in  the  great  Philadelphia  Hospital, 

connected  with  the  Almshouse,  and  such,  even  to  ;i  greater  degree, 
is  true  of  those  splendid  institutions  connected  with  the  college  - 
and  specialist  schools.  The  highest  type  of  the  hitter  class  is  the 
Polyclinic,  which  is  a  great  hospital,  wholly  devoted  in  its  plans 
and  methods  to  purposes  of  study  and  research,  under  the  direction 
of  distinguished  specialists.    The    Pennsylvania    Hospital,  while 


398  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

resembling  them  all  in  policy,  shares  the  advantage  of  financial  aid 
from  the  commonwealth.  The  Pennsylvania,  although  it,  like 
nearly  all  the  other  hospitals,  began  by  private  subscription,  found 
it  necessary  to  call  upon  the  Provincial  Assembly  for  aid  in  the 
erection  of  its  first  building,  though  this  necessity  has  been  resorted 
to  but  seldom  in  later  years.  As  decade  followed  decade  for  a  full 
century,  it  became  evident  to  the  more  thoughtful  observers  that 
general  hospital  capacity  in  Philadelphia  was  not  keeping  pace 
with  increase  of  population  in  any  degree  comparable  with  that  of 
European  cities.  Then  the  Hospital  of  the  P.  E.  Church,  St, 
Joseph's  and  a  few  other  denominational  and  other  hospitals  aroseL 
After  the  close  of  the  war  the  city  increased  so  rapidly  that  the 
need  for  hospital  facilities  became  still  more  urgent.  In  1872,  dur^ 
ing  the  great  removal  of  the  University  to  West  Philadelphia,  it 
was  decided,  through  the  influence  of  Dr.  William  Pepper,  to  take 
radical  measures,  so  far  as  the  University  Hospital  was  concerned, 
and  to  appeal  for  state  aid.  Philadelphia  had  always  received  and 
treated  a  large  proportion  of  the  sick  and  injured  from  all  parts  of 
the  state,  and  it  was  rightly  argued  that  the  state  should  bear  part 
of  the  burden  of  their  support.  The  fact  that  the  hospital  for 
which  state  aid  was  requested  was  a  part  of  the  University  was  also 
a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  granting  it.  The  appeal  was  sue* 
cessful,  and  the  first  payment  was  made  late  in  1872.  Other  insti- 
tutions rightly  claimed  the  same  support,  and  from  that  date  many 
of  them,  especially  those  of  the  schools,  have  received  it.  In  fact; 
it  is  now  the  policy  of  the  state  to  set  aside  appropriations  for  this 
purpose  and,  in  consequence,  Philadelphia  compares  favorably 
with  all  other  cities  in  the  capacity  of  her  hospitals. 

The  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  on 
account  of  their  age  and  size,  have  been  the  great  clinical  hospitals, 
outside  of  those  associated  with  the  colleges.  One  of  the  most 
instructive  object  lessons  in  the  medical  history  of  Philadelphia  is 
afforded  by  a  visit  to  the  three  clinical  amphitheaters  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  in  which  students  have  been  taught  since  the 
time  of  Thomas  Bond.  The  first  is  situated  in  the  rotunda,  almost 
in  the  cupola  of  the  main  building.     The  second,  built  in  1869,  is  a 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

fine  circular  structure  connected  with  ih<-  northern  and  southern 

pavilions.  The  third  is  contained  in  the  line  < iai r<t t.  Memorial 
Building  and  was  formally  opened  on  April  23,  is'.*7.  "Prom  the 
room  thai  preceded  the  one  we  inaugurate,"  said  Dr.  Da  Costa,  who 
has  been  a  wort  hy  successor  of  all  of  whom  lie  s|».;i  ks  in  his  address 
"from  the  <>id  rotunda,  from  the  newer  building  in  which,  until 
now.  successive  general  ions  of  eager  si  ndents  assembled,  have  gone 
forth  lessons  ilini.  have  stamped  themselves  into  Mm-  professional 
mind.  .  .  .  In  the  rooms  that  were  anterior  to  this,  here  stood  ami 
taught  those  who  wore  not.  unworthy  successors  to  Bush,  who,  for 
thirty  years,  was  the  most  conspicuous  medical  figure  in  this  hos- 
pital, as,  indeed,  by  his  learning,  captivating  eloquence  and  ardent 
zeal,  ho  was  the  most  conspicuous  figure  in  the  profession  in  the 
United  States;  and  to  Physick,  the  dignified,  surgeon,  who,  bringing 
witJi  him  into  our  century  the  appearance  and  manner  of  another 
time,  stood  before  his  class  with  his  hair  powdered  and  clubbed, 
their  idol,  as  in  his  cultivated  voice  he  gave  admirable  illustrations 
of  the  conservative  surgery  of  which  he  was  the  great  exponent.  In 
those  rooms  taught  John  K.  Mitchell,  the  versatile  and  gifted,  with 
the  eye  of  genius  foreseeing  the  part  minute  organisms  play  in  the 
production  of  disease;  George  B.  Wood,  as  methodical  and  accurate 
in  his  statements  at  the  bedside  as  everywhere  in  his  respected 
career;  William  Pepper,  clear  in  his  descriptions  and  consummate 
in  unraveling  obscure  processes;  William  Gerhard,  take  him  for  all 
in  all,  the  greatest  observer  and  clinician  America  has  produced; 
John  F.Meigs,  inheriting  with  his  famous  medical  name,  an  interest 
in  this  hospital  from  the  illustrious  and  inimitable  teacher  whom 
also  it  was  our  boast  to  have  had  on  our  list,  and  showing  here  the 
same  skill  and  kindness  that  made  him  the  most  sought  after 
physician  in  the  community.  In  the  old  rooms  also  have  been 
heard  the  voice  of  Barton,  the  pride  of  his  colleagues,  whose  ability 
and  ingenuity  remained  a  tradition  for  long  years,  joined  to  regret 
for  the  early  retirement  from  a  profession  in  which,  still  young,  he 
attained  the  firsl  rank;  of  Nona's,  the  truthful,  honest,  conscientious 
gentleman  ami  teacher;  of  Joseph  Pancoast,  the  brilliant  surgical 
artist,  devising  processes  that  seemed  to  be  the  result  of  intuition. 


400  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

and  practicing,  long  before  it  was  taught,  a  kind  of  antiseptic  sur- 
gery, of  which  he  himself  did  not  recognize  the  importance  or  wider 
application;  and  of  Agnew,  the  most  esteemed  man  of  our  day  in 
the  American  profession,  cool,  skillful,  daring,  yet  of  the  soundest 
judgment,  and  a  clear,  concise,  admirable  teacher.  Thus  from  the 
days,  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  when  Bond  enthusias- 
tically, with  the  full  approbation  of  the  managers,  introduced 
clinical  teaching  into  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  and  therefore  on 
this  continent — for  it  was  in  this  hospital  that  the  first  bedside 
instruction  in  medicine  was  given — up  to  our  time  there  has  been 
a  succession  of  men  bestowing  publicly  their  best  thought  and 
experience  without  reward,  or  idea  of  reward,  on  those  who  were  to 
come  after  them.  .  .  .  The  traits  of  the  many  distinguished  teach- 
ers that  have  been  connected  with  the  hospital,  and  the  influence 
of  the  character  of  the  hospital  itself,  have  made,  indeed,  a  great 
school  of  both  Practical  Medicine  and  Surgery,  developing  on 
rational  lines." 

Clinical  instruction  in  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  began,  so  far 
as  is  known,  with  the  first  obstetrical  clinic  in  the  city,  as  early  as 
1770.  But,  for  the  period  extending  from  that  time  until  18G1, 
nearly  a  century,  it  had  to  make  an  almost  continuous  .fight  for 
existence,  and  its  final  success  was  probably  most  largely  due  to 
the  efforts  of  the  University  medical  school.  In  1872,  Drs.  Rush, 
Knhn,  and  Clarkson  sought  to  enlarge  its  means  of  clinical  instruc- 
tion, for,  says  Dr.  Agnew,  in  1862,  "It  was  then  the  most  extensive 
hospital  on  the  continent,  containing  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
persons,  and  must  unquestionably  have  contained  much  disease 
of  an  interesting  and  instructive  character."  The  revolution  inter- 
rupted the  teachings  of  this  hospital,  and  it  was  not  until  1803 
that  they  were  resumed  under  Drs.  James  and  Church.  It  was  in 
1807  that  Dr.  James  secured  the  green  room  for  the  inauguration 
of  clinical  lectures  outside  the  wards.  Students  increased  rapidly 
in  the  next  two  or  more  decades,  and  many  of  the  ablest  men  of 
the  profession  were  among  the  lecturers.  By  1834  Jefferson  men 
were  equally  active  in  this  direction,  and  it  was  about  this  time  (r) 

(r)    The  fin;il  removal  from  the  old  Almshouse  was  begun  July  7,  1834. 


[N    PHILADELPHIA.  101 

thai  the  removal  of  the  hospital  to  "Blocklej  township/'  aci 
the  Schuylkill  river,  was  made.  This  change  made  the  transfer  of 
students  from  Ninth  and  Tenth  streets  one  of  the  interesting  feat- 
ures of  their  course.  "The  transportation,"  says  Dr.  Agnew,  "was 
no  inconsiderable  item.  Long  lines  of  omnibuses  (for  there  were 
Mien  qo  street  cars)  were  stationed  aboul  Ninth  and  Chestnut 
streets  on  Saturday  mornings,  and  in  ;i  few  minutes  crowds  of 
si  in  lent  s,  full  of  life  and  excitement,  were  Btowed  away  not  seated 
—in  glorious,  good-natured  confusion;  and  at  the  usual  salutation 
of  the  knight  with  the  whip,  'all  right,'  were  whirled  away  ;n  ;i 
spanking  speed,  some  to  the  South  street  ferry,  i»»  1»<-  carried  over 
on  a  boat  which  lias  Long  been  suspected  as  one  of  Charon's-  and 
is,  so  far  as  the  transportation  of  spirits  is  concerned,  nol  untruly; 
others  by  (ho  Market  street  bridge.  Some  «»f  my  very  pleasant 
recollections  of  college  life,  in  L83T,  are  associated  with  those 
weekly  trips  so  admirably  calculated  to  relieve  tin-  tedium  of 
town,  ami  regale  the  lungs  with  more  invigorating  ait-.  The  lec- 
ture room  was  situated  in  what  is  now  the  lunatic  department,  aid 
only  recently  abandoned.  It  was  the  most  capacious  and  finely 
arranged  amphitheater  in  the  country,  and  capable  of  seating  from 
seven  to  eight  hundred  persons.  I'm  il  IS-lo,  this  hospital  con- 
tinued to  be  the  great  clinic  school  of  the  country,  annually  open 
ing  its  exhaust  less  treasures  of  disease  to  crowds  of  educated, 
zealous  inquirers  after  medical  knowledge."  A  trivia]  incident 
which  occurred  on  June  30,  1845,  was  the  indirect  cause  of  the 
cessation  of  clinics  at  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  for  nine  years. 
It  is  thus  described  by  Agnew  in  his  Medical  History  of  t  ho  Phila- 
delphia Almshouse: 

"The  resident,  physicians  were  1m. aided  ai  the  talde  of  the 
steward  where,  as  I  understand,  in  consequence  of  the  want  of 
due  formality  and  decorum  in  the  destruction  of  an  unfortunate 
cockroach,  which  had  rashly  taken  a  near  cut  across  the  table 
instead  of  going  around,  these  gentlemen  became  indignant,  ami 
demanded  of  the  managers  to  he  transferred  to  the  talde  of  the 
matron.  Their  refusal  to  comply  with  this  request  determined  a 
unanimous  resignation,  leaving  the  hospital  unprovided  with  any 

Sftj 


402  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

medical  assistance.  The  evening  of  that  day  Drs.  Horner  and 
Clymer  attended  and  prescribed  for  the  sick.  Here  was  a  casus 
belli,  and  the  managers  promptly  passed  a  resolution  of  dismissal. 
....  What  great  results  proceed  from  small  and  unlikely  causes. 
Who  would  have  ever  thought  that  the  official  existence  of  a  medical 
board  composed  of  the  ablest  men  in  their  various  departments  on 
the  continent,  could  have  depended  on  the  life  of  a  contemptible 
cockroach!  In  this  manner  the  doors  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital, 
as  a  school  of  instruction,  were  sealed  for  nine  years.''  These  were 
the  days  of  political  management  at  their  worst.  In  1851  several 
attempts  were  made  to  revive  the  clinical  teaching,  and  the  efforts 
of  Drs.  Henry  H.  Smith  and  J.  L.  Ludlow  were  finally  successful. 
Early  in  October  a  train  on  what  is  now  the  West  Chester  Railway 
carried  the  students  to  the  hospital.  In  the  winter  of  1856-57  the 
clinics  were  again  closed.  The  students  appealed  to  the  managers, 
and  late  in  1858  ten  lecturers  were  appointed.  The  old  managers 
were  removed  in  1859,  and  a  new  medical  staff  appointed,  among' 
whom  was  Dr.  Robert  Luekett,  who  afterward  became  the  chief 
leader  of  the  exodus  of  Southern  students.  In  1860  the  wards  were 
thrown  open  to  free  clinical  instruction,  and  in  1861,  the  present 
lecture  room,  which,  in  the  words  of  Agnew,  "for  elegance  and  con- 
venience has  no  superior,''  was  constructed.  This  was  used  for 
thirty-one  years,  when  it  was  thoroughly  remodeled  on  modern 
plans.  "Nothing  remains  of  the  former  hall,"  said  the  president 
of  the  medical  board,  Dr.  Roland  G.  Curtin,  in  his  opening  address, 
"but  the  old  stone  walls,  which  have  been  renewed  in  appearance 
by  the  stucco  covering.  .  .  .  The  facilities  for  clinical  instruction 
in  this  hospital  are  excelled  by  only  about  four  hospitals  iia  the 
world,  and  by  none  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  This  hospital 
embraces  what  in  New  York  is  called  Bellevue  Hospital  or  the  City 
Hospital,  and  Charity  Hospital,  which  is  associated  with  the  Alms- 
house, criminal  institutions,  and  others  that  are  under  city  control. 
....  I  have  made  a  calculation  that  in  thirty-one  years  fifteen  to 
twenty  thousand  students  have  attended  clinics  in  the  old  clinic 
room.  This  teaching  has  had  much  to  do  with  making  Philadel- 
phia the  medical  center  of  the  United  States.  .  .  .  The  attendance 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  IO.-J 

mi  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  clinics  is  from  all  countries.  I  have 
seen  on  the  benches  Turks,  Roumanians,  Africans,  Canadians,  Ber- 
in  in  la  us,  Brazilians,  Chilians  and  Japanese  male  and  female 
old  style,  new  style  and  eclectics.  <H«I  students  are  welcome,  ami 
are  admitted  on  an  <'<|ii;ii  footing  without  fee,  and  receive  the  b< 
practical  instruction  we  can  give.  .  .  .  '<>hl  Blockley5  is  honored 
all  over  the  land  and  in  many  foreign  countries  by  the  teaching 
tli at  has  been  given  here  by  such  lights  as  Benjamin  Rush,  Gerhard, 
Pennock,  Gross  (father  and  son),  Pancoasl  the  elder,  Ludlow, 
A.gnew  and  others  who  have  gone  to  their  reward;  and  among  those 
now  living  who  have  long  since  retired  from  the  staff,  by  Siille. 
Da  Costa,  Penrose,  Pepper,  Wood,  Tyson,  Osier,  the  younger  Pan- 
coast,  and  many  others  who  mighl  l>e  mentioned  if  time  permitted. 
They  gave  their  valuable  time  without  pecuniary  compensation  to 
the  poor  of  Philadelphia." 

Clinical  instruction  in  these  two  greal  institutions  first  began 
to  be  supplemented  by  the  schools  when  Jefferson  began  her  strug- 
gle for  existence,  in  L825.  The  early  clinical  facilities  of  this 
institution  were,  however,  of  a  very  primitive  character,  although 
they  wmc  the  starting  point  of  the  present  Jefferson  College  Hos- 
pital. The  difficulties  the  women  had  to  contend  with  to  gain 
entrance  to  clinics  led  to  the  opening  of  their  hospital  during  the 
early  years  of  the  war,  and  the  removal  of  the  University  early  in 
the  .seventies  occasioned  the  rise  of  its  greal  hospital.  In  April, 
L877,  the  present  Jefferson  Hospital  was  formally  transferred  by 
the  Building  Committee  to  the  Trustees  of  the  College.  The 
Medico-Chirurgical  and  Polyclinic  hospitals  have  risen  within  the 
present  period.  From  the  foregoing,  it  is  evident  that  Phila- 
delphia affords  unusual  facilities  for  that  most  important  supple- 
ment i<»  medical  teaching  -post-graduate  service  in  a  general 
hospital. 

The  Pennsylvania  Hospital  staff  has  enrolled  a  ne>>i  notable 
list  of  physicians  since  its  organization  in  1751.  It  embraces  the 
folloAving:  Drs.  Lloyd  Zachary,  Thomas  Bond,  Phineas  Bond, 
William  Shippen,  John  Morgan,  Cadwalader  Evans,  Charles 
.Moore,  Adam   Kuhn,  Thomas  Parke,  James  Hutchinson.   William 


404  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Shippen,  Jr.,  Jolm  Jones,  Benjamin  Kusli,  John  Foulke,  Caspar 
Wistar,  Philip  Syng  Physick,  Benjamin  S.  Barton,  John  Bednian 
-Coxe,  Thomas  C.  James,  John  Syng  Dorsey,  Joseph  Hart-shorne, 
Thomas  C.  James,  John  C.  Otto,  Joseph  Parrish,  Samuel  Colhoun, 
John  Moore,  Thomas  T.  Hewson,  William  Price,  John  Wilson 
Moore,  Samuel  Emlen,  John  Ehea  Barton,  John  K.  Mitchell,  Benja- 
min H.  Coates,  Thomas  Harris,  Charles  Lukens,  Hugh  L.  Hodge, 
William  Bush,  Jacob  Bandolph,  George  B.  Wood,  George  W.  Xorris, 
Thomas  Stewardson,  Jr.,  Charles  D.  Meigs,  Edward  Peace,  William 
Pepper,  William  W.  Gerhard,  George  Fox,  Joseph  Carson,  John 
Neill,  Joseph  Pancoast,  Francis  Gurney  Smith,  James  J.  Levick, 
John  F.  Meigs,  Edward  Hartshorne,  Addinell  Hewson,  William 
Hunt,  Thomas  G.  Morton,  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  D.  Hayes  Agnew, 
James  H.  Hutchinson,  J.  Aitkin  Meigs,  Richard  J.  Levis,  Arthur  V. 
Meigs,  Morris  Longstreth,  John  H.  Packard,  John  Ashhurst,  Jr., 
Morris  J.  Lewis  and  Eichard  H.  Harte,  the  present  staff  being: 
Drs.  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  Arthur  V.  Meigs,  Morris  J.  Lewis,  James  C. 
Wilson,  Thomas  G.  Morton,  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  Eichard  H.  Harte, 
W.  Barton  Hopkins,  and  the  Pathologist,  Henry  M.  Fisher,  for  the 
Pine  street  main  hospital;  and  Drs.  Fisher,  Frederick  A.  Packard, 
Joseph  Leidy,  J.  Allison  Scott,  Walter  D.  Green,  Eobert  G. 
Le  Conte,  Joseph  M.  Spellissy,  John  H.  Gibbon,  George  C.  Harlan, 
Peter  X.  K.  Schwenk,  Alex.  W.  MacCoy,  J.  Montgomery  Baldy, 
A.  B.  Moulton,  Henry  B.  Xunemaker,  Eli  E.  Josselyn,  Horace  Phil- 
lips and  Thomas  S.  K.  Morton,  for  the  out-patient  department;  and 
seven  resident  physicians.  The  staff  of  the  Hospital  for  the  Insane 
includes  Dr.  John  B.  Chapin,  four  assistant  physicians,  one  resident, 
and  a  consulting  gynecologist.  The  present  plant  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital  Las  grown  op  around  the  old  original  structure, 
which  still  remains,  occupying  the  square  at  Eighth  and  Pine 
streets.  This  structure- was  the  east  wiug,  built  in  1754;  the  west 
wing  was  added  in  1796,  and  also  the  central  building.  In  1841  the 
Department  for  the  Insane  was  opened  in  West  Philadelphia,  and 
in  1869  the  second  clinic  hall  addition  was  built.  In  1875  the 
Nurses'  Training  Department  Avas  organized,  and  eleven  years  later 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

the  Picture  House  (j)  was  made  their  "Home;"  in  L892  ih<-  present 
fine  structure  was  erected  for  their  use.  The  out-patient  « 1  < *j >;i r-t 
niciii  grew  <>iii  "i  the  dispensary  service,  and  in  imil'  its  present 
building  outside  the  grounds  on  Spruce  streel  was  secured.  The  first 
memorial  pavilion  was  begun  in  L802,  and  th<-  cornerstone  laid  in 
L893.  These  pavilions  are  tliree  in  aumber,and  with  the  magnificent 
clinic  li.-ill  jnsi  completed,  and  the  Nurses'  Home,  give  the  Spruce 
Btreetside  five  imposing  structures,  i  he  middle  one  being  connected 
with  the  centra]  building.  The  old  Hospital  for  the  insane  to 
equally  well  provided  with  buildings,  on  its  extensive  and  beautiful 
grounds  in  West  Philadelphia,  which  are  models  for  their  purpose. 
This  insi  ii  in imi  niiisi  always  be  associated  with  the  name  of 
] >r.  Thomas  S.  Kirkbride,  whose  devotion  i<>  it.  from  L840  to  his 
death  in  L883,  has  caused  the  institution  to  be  popularly  known  as 
"Kirkbride's."  1 Ee  was  a  nat  ive  of  Bucks  <  Jounty,  born  in  L809,  and 
was  n  graduate  of  the  University  Medical  School  in  L832.  This  in- 
stitution,  under  the  management  of  \u-.  Kirkbride  and  his  succes- 
sor, 1  >r.  Ohapin,  is  world  renowned  for  its  skillful  treatment  of  the 
mentally  diseased.  The  crowning  addition  to  the  historic  old  Pine 
street  hospital  is  the  Garrett  Memorial  Building,  in  the  aortheast 
cornel- of  the  grounds,  facing  Eighth  and  Spruce  streets,  and  con- 
taining the  great  clinic  hall,  opened  in  L897.  <  >ver  26,000  patients 
are  annually  treated  in  the  hospital  proper,  and  over  550  in  the 
1  department  for  t he  insane. 

The  other  great  clinical  school,  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  h;is 
had  a  staff  of  equal  eminence.  Beginning  wit  h  I  >rs.  Thomas  Bond 
and  Cadwalader  Evans,  in  1768,  at  the  old  Spruce  and  Tenth  street 
grounds,  they  areas  follows:  Drs.  Adam  Kuhn.  Benjamin  [lush, 
Samuel  Duffield,  <  i-erardus  <  Jlarkson,  Thomas  Parke,  George  Glent- 
Worth,  I  >.  Jackson,  James  Hutchinson,  (z)  Wilson,  Caspar 
Wistar,  J.  R.  Rodgers,  Michael  Leib,  John  .Morris,  Samuel  P.  Grit 
litis.  N.  B.  Waters,  William  Shippen,  (z)  dimming,  (z)  Pleasants, 

iji  The  picture  bouse  was  lmiii  In  L816  for  Benjamin  West's  picture,  "ChrhM 
Healing  tlie  Sick."    it  was  removed  in  1892-3.    The  picture  is  in  ii id  clinic  hall. 

i/,i  The  i  hristian  names  of  Drs.  Wilson,  Cumming  and  Pleasants  are  oinittod 
In  the  chronological  lisl  <>f  the  members  of  the  M"<ii<;il  Boards  of  the  Philadelphia 
Hospital,  contained  In  the  reports  of  thai   Institution. 


406  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Saimiel    Clements,    Jr.,    William    Boyce,    Samuel    Cooper,    John 
Church,    Thomas   C.   James,    John    Proudnt,    Phili})    S.    Physick, 
Charles  Caldwell,  Elijah  Griffiths,  Benjamin  S.  Barton,  Samuel 
Stewart,  John  Rush,  James  Reynolds,  Isaac  Cathrall,  Peter  Muller, 
John  S.  Dorsey,  Nathaniel  Chapman,  Joseph  Parrish,  Joseph  Klapp, 
Thomas  T.  Hewson,  Joseph  Hartshorne,  Samuel  Colhoun,  W.  P.  C. 
Barton,  William  E.  Horner,  Samuel  Jackson,  John  K.  Mitchell, 
Richard  Harlan,  Hugh  L.  Hodge,  S.  G.  Morton,  Jacob  Randolph, 
William  W.  Gerhard,  Joseph  Pancoast;,   William   Ashmead,   <N. 
Stuardson,  Robley  Dunglison,  Edward  Peace,   Meridith  Clymer, 
John  Rhea  Barton,  William  Gibson,  J.  V.  O.  Lawrence,  Charles  B. 
Gibson,  John  Moore,  Henry  Neill,  Xathan  Shoemaker,  Chas.  Luk- 
ens,  B.  Ellis,  F.  S.  Beattie,  C.  W.  Pennock,  W.  D.  Brinkle,  R.  M. 
Huston,  James  McOintock,  W.  H.  Gillingham,  J.  L.  Ludlow,  W.  F. 
Mayburry,  Chas.  P.  Tutt,  Robert  Luckett,  J.  M.  Da  Costa,  O.  A. 
Judson,   George  J.   Zeigler,   Alfred   Stille,   J.    S.   De   Benneville, 
Edward  JRhoads,  William  Pepper,  H.  C.  Wood,  James  Tyson,  J.  M. 
Keating,  E.  T.  Bruen,  J.  C.  Wilson,  John  Gniteras,  Roland  G.  Cur- 
tin,  S.  J.  McFerran,  J.  T.  Eskridge,  W.  G.  McConnell,  Jos.  F.  Neff, 
John  H.  Musser,  William  Osier,  F.  P.  Henry,  J.  M.  Anders,  W.  E. 
Hughes,  S.  Solis-Cohen,  Eugene  L.  Vansant,  F.  A.  Packard,  Judson 
Daland,  Samuel  Wolfe,  Julius  Salinger,  S.  I).  Gross,  D.  Hayes 
Agnew,  R.  J.  Levis,  Edward  L.  Duer,  R.  S.  Kenderdine,  J.  W.  Lodge, 
W.  H.  Pancoast,  F.  F.  Maury,  John  H.  Brinton,  Harrison  Allen, 
Samuel  W.  Gross,  X.  L.  Hatfield,  J.  William  White,  William  G. 
Porter,  A.  A.  McDonald,  W.  S.  Janney,  George  McClellan,  A.  S. 
Roberts,  W.  Joseph  Ilearn,  C.  IT.  Thomas,  A.  W.  Ransley,  Lewis  W. 
Steinbach,  John  B.  Dearer,  Edward  Martin,  Orville  Horwitz,  Ern- 
est Laplace,  J.  M.  Barton,  J.  Chalmers  Da  Costa,  Alfred  C.  Wood, 
R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  John  Wiltbank,  W.  B.  Stroud,  Lewis  Harlow, 
G.  J.  Ziegler,  J.  S.  Parry,  George  Pepper,  J.  V.  Ingham,  J.  R.  Bur- 
den, Jr.,  E.  E.  Montgomery,  J.  B.  Walker,  S.  S.  Stryker,  G.  W.  Linn, 
M.  B.  Musser,  W.  If.  Parish,  Clara  Marshall,  E.  P.  Bernardy,  Han- 
nah T.  Croasdale,  Tlieophilus  Parvin,  Donnell  Hughes,  E.  Richard- 
son, B.  C.  Hirst,  E.  P.  Davis,  W.  E.  Ashton,  R,  H.  Hammill,  George 
I.  McKelway,  J.  W.  West,  R.  C.  Xorris,  J.  M.  Fisher,  W.  F.  Haehnlen, 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  i»»; 

Elizabeth  L.  Peck,  Chas.  K.  Mills,  II.  C.  Wood,  Roberts  Bartholow, 
P.  X.  Dercum,  J.  II.  Lloyd,  Wharton  Sinkler,  C.  II.  Bradfute,  E.  O. 
Shakespeare, G.  E.  de  Schweinitz,  Geo.  .M.  Gould, C.  A.  Oliver,  Louis 
Duhring,  II.  W.  Stelwagon,  J.  A.  Cantrell,  C.  J.  Seltzer,  James 
Tyson,  ll.  M.  Bertolet,  Jos.  Berens,  II.  I\  Formad,  W.  .M.  I-  Coplin, 
B.  B.  Sangree,  A.  Ghriskey,  I-  Henley,  J.  II.  Benton,  s.  W.  Butler, 
D.  I>.  Richardson,  A.  A.  McDonald,  Philip  Leidy,  William  II.  Wal- 
lace, <5.  M.  Wells,  Daniel  B.  Hughes,  S.  Wier  Mitchell,  Andrew 
NTebinger  and  -I. Mines  Simpson.  The  present  si;i IV  embraces  the  fol- 
lowing: Drs.  Tyson,  While,  .Mills,  Curtin,  Hearn,  Steinbaeh,  Mus- 
ser,  Stelwagon,  Dercum,  de  Schweinitz,  Deaver,  Hirst,  Henry, 
Martin,  Lloyd,  Davis,  Sinkler,  Anders,  W.  E.  Hughes,  S.  Solis- 
Cohen,  Vansant,  I  lorwitz,  Laplace,  Ashton,  Cantrell,  Cattell,  W.  B. 
Jameson,  Barton,  Seltzer,  Geo.  M.  Marshall,  Hamill,  McKelway, 
r.  A.  Packard,  K.  C.  NTorris,  -J.  C.  Da  Costa,  S.  Wolfe.  J.  L.  Salinger, 
Guiteras,  A.  A.  Eshner,  Sangree,  Oliver  II.  Toulmin,  Haehnlen, 
A.  C.  Wood  ;iii<l  Elizabeth  L.  Peck,  h  is  of  interest  to  note  thai  the 
clinical  Lecturers  immediately  before  the  war  were  Drs.  J.  L.  Lud- 
low, Caspar  Morris,  Joseph  Carson,  J.  B.  Biddle,  J.  Aitkin  Me  gs, 
.1.  M.  Da  Costa,  Henry  II.  Smith,  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  John  Seill,  R.  P. 
Thomas,  W.  S.  Ilalsey,  R.  -I.  Levis,  R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  Wilson  Jewell 
ami  I-:.  McClellan. 

Thjs  great  hospital,  always  a  pari  of  the  Almhouse,  has  grown 
from  the  lime  of  its  first  wards,  set  apart  for  the  sick,  at  Spruce 
and  Tenth  streets,  step  by  step,  until  ii  m»w  occupies  the  greal 
building  forming  t  he  uorl  heasl  side  of  tlie  vasl  quadrangle  of  Alms- 
house structures  a1  i  In-  southwest  corner  of  Thirty-fourth  and  Tine 
si  reels.  It  is  three  stories  high,  with  dormer  roof,  and  is  540  feel 
by  <>•">  feel  in  dimensions.  Aside  from  the  Children's  and  Insane 
Departments,  there  are  the  Pathological  Department,  tirst  really 
organized  in  L860,  the  Neurological  in  L877,theOphthalmological  al 
the  same  date,  the  Laryngological  in  LS90,  and  the  Nurses'  School, 
which  now.  since  1SSI,  has  a  line  new  building.  The  animal  aver- 
age of  cases  within  the  hospital  proper  is  about  8,000. 

The  college  hospitals  -if  Jefferson's  and  the  Woman's  small 
early  building  be  excepted — have  practically  all  arisen  during  the 


408  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

present  period.  Their  staffs  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  composed 
of  members  of  the  corresponding  college  faculties'  staff.  In  the  case 
of  Jefferson,  rooms  were  rented  in  an  adjoining  building  in  18-13 
for  the  use  of  patients  treated  in  the  clinic,  and  it  soon  grew  to  a 
capacity  of  about  a  score  of  beds,  and  remained  at  this  stage  for 
about  twenty  years.  Then  arose  the  project  of  the  University  Hos- 
pital, which,  with  other  circumstances,  prompted  a  similar  enter- 
prise by  the  Alumni  Association  of  Jefferson.  In  December,  1872,. 
the  project  was  set  on  foot.  Subscriptions  were  secured  and  an 
appropriation  of  8100,000  was  voted  by  the  state  on  April  9,  1873. 
Dr.  E.  B.  Gardette  was  made  chairman  of  a  committee  to  secure 
the  present  site  near  the  college.  This  was  completed  in  March, 
1876,  and  on  September  17,  1877,  the  new  structure  was  formally 
opened.  Since  that  time  it  has  been  a  most  valuable  adjunct  to 
the  college.  It  is  not  the  intention  to  make  any  comparison  between 
the  college  hospitals,  nor  to  enter  into  the  details  of  their  develop- 
ment. It  is  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  these  great  undertakings 
are  not  only  the  equals  of  any  similar  institutions,  but  leaders  in  all 
the  highest  developments  of  modern  hospital  service.  Jefferson 
now  averages  about  1,500  cases  annually  in  her  hospital,  and  over 
95,000  in  the  dispensary  service.  The  University  Hospital  has  a 
similar  average  in  the  hospital  proper,  but  not  so  large  a  dispen- 
sary service.  The  latter  institution  was  suggested  in  1871  by  Dr. 
H.  C.  Wood,  W.  F.  Xorris  and  William  Pepper,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  proposed  removal  of  the  University  from  Ninth  street  and 
the  vicinity  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  on  which  the  University 
depended  so  largely  for  clinical  material  (k).  It  is  true  the  Univer- 
sity, by  its  removal,  became  contiguous  to  the  Philadelphia  Hospi- 
tal, but  the  latter  institution,  at  that  time,  had  not  the  prestige  and 
excellence  of  the  former,  so  that  the  new  hospital  was  intended,  in 
a  large  measure,  to  replace  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  so  far  as  the 
University  School  was  concerned.  Under  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Hon.  Morton  Mc Michael,  the  alumni  of  the  medical  school  were 
rallied  about  the  project,  and  it  was  proposed  to  raise  $700,000. 

Ik)    The  University  also  had  rooms  rented  for  the  use  of  chronic  cases  preA-kms. 
to  this. 


[X  PHILADELPHIA.  100 

Dp.  Pepper  was  made  chairman  of  the  commission,  and  early  in 
1872  decided  to  ask  for  State  aid.  Ii  was  urged  thai  N«-w  York. 
wit li  a  million  people,  lia<l  6,325  free  beds  in  hospitals,  bul  Phila- 
delphia, with  Dearly  three-fourths  her  population,  had  only  L,100. 
Other  arguments  in  favor  of  the  projed  were  urged,  and  on  April 
3,  L872,  the  Btate  granted  an  appropriation  of  $100,000,  to  be  paid 
when  $250,000  had  been  raised,  a  feat  which  was  accomplished  by 
November  following.  <  Mi  May  L8  the  City  Councils  roted  the  I'ni- 
versity  five  and  one-half  acres  as  a  site  for  the  hospital.  Other 
subscriptions  and  grants  from  the  state  were  received,  and  on 
July  1~>,  is74,  the  hospital  was  opened  Cor  patients.  Since  thai  date 
its  development  has  been  worthy  of  its  vigorous  beginning.  The 
Woman's  Hospital  began  with  a  house  on  North  College  avenue, 
in  1801,  when  Dr.  Ann  Preston  saved  the  colic-.-  from  extinction 
by  her  foresight  in  opening  this  institution.  Over  $382,000  has 
been  raised  for  the  hospital  ami  Nurses'  School,  and  the  entire 
service  includes  about  4,0ihi  cases  annually,  including  the  dispen- 
sary service.  The  Alumnae  Bospital  of  the  college  is  a1  L212  South 
Third  street,  and  was  tirst  proposed  about  1892,  but  was  not  open*  d 
until  October  31,  1895.  II  averages  over  a  thousand  cases  a  year. 
including  dispensary  service.  The  Medico-Chirurgical  Hospital 
averages  over  1,200  cases  annually,  with  about  Ml, (KM)  accident  and 
dispensary  patients.  It  began  in  a  small  way  in  1881-2  with  the 
college  a1  the  southeast  corner  of  Broad  and  .Market,  opposite  the 
Broad  Street  station,  and  has  gradually  increased  its  new  plant, 
both  on  Cherry  and  on  Eighteenth  street,  until  its  development  has 
been  such  that  it  takes  rank  with  the  other  college  hospitals.  Like 
the  Medico-Chirurgical  College,  the  Polyclinic  began,  not  only  with, 
but  as.  a  hospital  in  1.882,  in  its  days  of  small  t  hings.  In  its  tine  new 
building  it  now  averages  about  800  cases  annually,  not  including 
;i  dispensary  service  Of  about  77,000  a  year.  These  are  all  large 
institutions,  with  a.  complex  development  so  extended  ami  ramify- 
ing that  they  are  models  of  the  most,  highly  organized  hospital 
management.  They  may  be  considered  offshoots  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Philadelphia  hospitals,  in  that  they  were  prompted  by 
the  inadequacy  of  those  institutions.    State  aid  has  made  them  all. 


HO  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

in  a  sense,  State  institutions  also.  They  all  include  in  their  equip- 
ment, schools  for  the  training  of  nurses,  and,  for  the  most  part,  an 
ambulance  service,  as  well  as  a  multitude  of  other  details  too 
numerous  to  consider  here.  They  are  all  general  hospitals,  with 
dispensaries,  in  which  the  various  specialties  are  fully  provided  for. 
Few  of  the  public,  and  not  all  of  the  profession,  realize  the  extent 
of  these  institutions  and  the  great  part  they  play  in  the  welfare  of 
the  city,  because  their  life  is  so  merged  with  that  of  the  institution 
to  which  they  are  attached.  It  will  be  seen  from  their  dates  of  organ- 
ization that  this  great  series  of  hospitals  has  arisen  practically  in 
the  present  period,  and  that,  like  their  two  great  prototypes,  they 
are  the  work  of  the  profession. 

Other  general  hospitals  arose  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  great  religious  bodies,  which  began  to  realize,  even  before  the 
civil  war,  the  necessity  for  larger  hospital  accommodation  than  was 
furnished  by  the  Pennsylvania  and  Almshouse  or  Philadelphia  hos- 
pitals. This  work  began  to  be  felt  about  1850,  and  the  first  who 
attempted  to  fill  it  were  the  Eoman  Catholics,  who  founded  St. 
Joseph's  in  1849,  a  hospital  which  now  receives  patients  averaging 
over  1,600  annually,  not  including  a  dispensary  service  of  over 
14,000  cases.  It  has  a  large  four-story  structure,  of  the  conven- 
tional hospital  type  of  those  days,  that  is,  a  central  building,  with 
two  wings  of  similar  architecture,  connected  with  the  main  build- 
ing by  structures  of  almost  equal  size.  It  fronts  on  Girard  avenue, 
between  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  streets,  and  is  under  the  care 
of  Sisters  of  Charity.  It  had  the  honor  to  be  one  of  the  first,  if  not 
the  first,  of  the  hospitals  to  open  its  doors  to  the  soldiers  during  the 
war,  and  had  its  share  of  them  during  the  whole  of  that  conflict. 
Its  growth  has  been  gradual  from  the  first.  Its  present  staff  con- 
sists of  Drs.  Kobert  B.  Cruice,  Geo.  M.  Marshall,  A.  G.  Bournon- 
ville,  Geo.  11.  Morehouse,  John  H.  Packard,  Henry  Morris,  M.  T. 
Prendergast,  C.  K.  Mills,  S.  L.  Zeigler,  E.  E.  Montgomery,  Jos.  Siler, 
G.  G.  Davis,  II.  B.  Allyn,  John  S.  Miller,  W.  II.  Baker, 
G.  F.  Baker,  Jas.  McKee,  \Y.  Krusen,  F.  H.  Maier,  B.  K.  Chance, 
C.  L.  Felt,  M.  M.  Franklin,  Henry  J.  Walcott,  H.  P. 
Fisher  and  A.  M.  Harrison.    St.  Joseph's  Hospital  was  followed  in 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  til 

L866  by  St.  Mary's,  al  Frankford  avenue  and  Palmer  street,  near 
the  Delaware.  St.  Mary's  ElospitaJ  was  established  in  July,  L866. 
The  hotel  at  the  corner  of  Frankford  road  and  Palmer  Btreel  \\;i> 
purchased  for  the  institution  ;it  ;i  cost  of  $30,000;  repairs,  $15,000. 
In  1892  a  wing  w;is  added  a1  a  cosl  of  $25,000. 

Dr.  James  Cummiskey  was  its  liisi  medical  director;  Dr. 
Andrew  Nebinger  second;  Dr.  J.  H.  Grove  third;  Dr.  W.  V.  Keat- 
ing fourth;  l>r.  P.  S.  Donnellan  fifth,  and  Dr.  J.  V.  Kelly  its  pres- 
ent medical  director. 

It  now  accommodates  over  loo  patients.  It  has  done  much 
work  for  the  poor,  and  has  an  able  staff.  It  has  < -» 1 1 1 « -; 1 1 « -<  1  three 
resident  physicians  annually  since  its  foundation. 

Its  chief  benefactors  were  Francis  Drexel  ($71,000),  -Mrs.  A. 
<!lass,  Mr.  O'Neill  and  Leandro  de  la  Cuesta.  A  bequest  of  the 
latter  provides  an  income  of  over  $1,000  annually. 

From  1ST.")  to  1ST7  the  following  hospitals  were  founded:  St. 
Christopher's  Hospital  for  Children,  a1  Huntingdon  and  Lawrence 
streets,  with  a  capacity  <>f  50;  St  Vincent's  Home  and  Maternity, 
at  Seventieth  and  Woodland  avenue,  a  private  institution  in  SVesI 
Philadelphia,  and  St.  Agnes'  Hospital,  containing  213  beds,  at 
Broad  and  Mifflin  streets,  organized  in  L888.  From  the  above  it  will 
be  seen  that  two  of  the  Roman  Catholic  hospitals  are  in  the  north- 
ern section  of  the  city,  and  that  their  greatest  growth  has  been 
within  the  present  period. 

St.  Agnes'  Hospital  was  founded  by  Dr.  Andrew  Nebinger, 
under  Rev.  Mother  Agnes,  the  Superior  of  the  < >rder  of  St,  Francis. 
It  was  dedicated  in  May,  isss.  Dr.  Nebinger  was  its  chief  benefac- 
tor. Other  large  benefactors  were:  Mr.  John  Carew,  Mrs.  Catha- 
rine I  loisi  ntan  and  the  I  >rexel  f'ainih  .  It  occupies  an  entire  square 
at  Broad  and  Mifflin  streets.  St.  Agnes  contains  213  beds.  The 
p<  rsonm  I  of  the  establishment,  aside  from  the  medical  staff,  is  com- 
posed of  36  sisters,  12  postulants,  4  lay  nurses.  4  male  "help,"  and 
L2  male  attendants.  According  to  the  lasi  report  there  were 
admitted  during  the  year  L,738  patients,  and  L,82G  cases  were 
treated  in  the  dispensary.  According  to  the  original  plan,  there 
is  one  wing  ye1  to  be  added.    The  hospital  has  a  training  school  for 


412  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

nurses,  from  which  eleven  were  graduated  last  year.  The  training 
school  committee  consists  of  Drs.  William  H.  Parish,  A.  A.  Stevens, 
Edward  Martin,  B.  Franklin  Stahl  and  A.  O.  J.  Kelly.  Dr.  Michael 
O'Hara  is  the  present  medical  director.  Former  directors  were :  Drs. 

A.  Nebinger,  J.  H.  Grove  and  W.  V.  Keating.  The  present  medical 
staff  is  composed  of  Drs.  M.  O'Hara,  J.  P.  C.  Griffith,  A.  A.  Stevens, 

B.  F.  Sthal,  A.  O.  J.  Kelly,  A.  W.  Kausley,  W.  J.  Taylor,  E.  Martin, 
E.  Laplace,  W.  W.  Keen,  J.  H.  Grove,  W.  H.  Parish,  John  C.  Da 
Costa,  M.  O'Hara,  Jr.,  J.  N.  Ilhoads,  F.  M.  Perkins,  E.  G.  Kehfuss, 
0.  A.  Oliver,  L.  P.  Smock,  D.  B.  Kyle,  C.  S.  Means,  F.  X.  Dercum, 
G.  A.  Muehleck,  M.  V.  Ball  and  R.  Wilson,  with  ten  others  for  dis- 
pensary work  and  four  residents.  The  cost  of  the  hospital  is  about 
$40,000  annually.    Sister  M.  Barromeo  is  sister  in  charge. 

The  Hospital  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  came  next 
after  St.  Joseph's,  and  it  also,  as  its  name  implies,  is  a  church  insti- 
tution, and,  therefore,  with  no  other  object  in  view  than  that  of 
healing  the  sick  and  injured  and  training  nurses  to  care  for  them. 
Bishop  Potter  led  in  the  founding  of  this  hospital.  On  March  14, 
1851,  a  meeting  of  clergy  and  laity  was  held,  at  which  plans  were 
laid  and  a  committee  of  eleven  appointed  to  carry  them  out.  Drs. 
Caspar  Morris  and  William  Keith  were  the  physicians  on  this  com- 
mittee. Soon  after  the  corporators  of  the  institution  were  pre- 
sented with  the  old  Leamy  mansion,  surrounded  by  six  acres  of 
land,  and  on  December  11,  1852,  the  hospital  was  opened.  It  con- 
tinued to  occupy  the  Leamy  mansion  for  ten  years.  On  May  21, 
1860,  the  cornerstone  of  the  new  building,  facing  Lehigh  avenue, 
on  the  corner  of  Front  street,  was  laid.  It  is  now  composed  of  a 
large  central  structure,  with  several  wings,  or  "pavilions,"  con- 
nected with  the  main  building  by  covered  passages.  The  general 
plan  is  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  the  Hopital  Lariboisiere  of 
Paris.  In  reality,  it  was  for  a  long  time  composed  of  three  great 
and  almost  equal  structures,  which  have  been  added  to,  as  found 
advisable,  from  time  to  time.  One  of  its  principal  features  is  a  mag- 
nificent ward,  or  rather  wing,  for  incurables,  a  memorial  to  the  late 
George  L.  Harrison,  whose  family  has  contributed  nearly  half  a 
million  dollars  to  its  building  and  maintenance.    It  was  one  of  the 


IN  PHILADELPHIA,  113 

hospitals  which  tared  for  soldiers  during  the  war,  and  was, 
with  the  Pennsylvania,  St,  Joseph's  and  "Old  Blockley,"  the  only 
general  hospital  of  thai  time.  "II  is  just  a  century  since  tin-  first 
effort  for  the  establishment  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  was 
made,"  said  Bishop  1  *« » 1 1 < -i%  in  his  appeal  in  L851,  "and  it  may  be 
hailed  as  a  aol  inauspicious  omen  that,  without  design,  this  epoch 

has  given  birth  i<»  a  new  attempt In  that  whole  | »« - i-i « ►<  1 

the  charity  of  Philadelphia  for  the  si<  k  \\;\<  lain  dormant,  or  been 
imperfectly  applied  1>.\  isolated  and  individual  effort,  with  the 
single  exception  of  the  endowment  of  th«'  Wills  Hospital  for  1 1 1 •- 
Blind  and  Lame;  whilst  the  increased  density  of  the  population,  the 
introduction  of  steam,  the  establishment  of  manufactories  and  the 
extension  of  railroads  have  added  incalculably  to  the  necessity  for 
some  provision  applicable  to  all  classes  of  sickness  and  accident." 
The  earliest  medical  board  recorded  in  the  reports  is  that  of  L854, 
and  includes  Drs.  Deacon,  Hunt,  Biddle,  Reese,  Bernard  Henry,  A. 
I  [ewson,  West,  Drayton,  Wilt  bank  and  Stocker.  In  L860,  when  the 
new  buildings  were  started,  the  bishop  said:  "It  is  nut  in  our  own 
estimate  only  that  the  necessity  exists.  St.  Joseph's  has  been  organ- 
ized under  the  patronage  of  the  Church  of  Home,  within  the  hist 
tew  years,  while  two  other  institutions,  struggling  to  maintain 
;i  feeble  existence,  the  one  in  the  southwest  and  the  other  in  the 
northwest  portions  of  the  city  plot,  indicate  that  others  have  been 
equally  impressed  by  this  necessity.  An  effort  is  now  being  made  to 
plan  on  a.  broader  foundation  an  hospital  especially  devoted  to  the 
treatment  of  diseases  of  children."  These  statements  show  the 
position  which  this  hospital  w;is  intended  to  occupy  in  the  north- 
east quarter  of  Philadelphia.  \*y  the  beginning  of  the  present 
period  the  medical  stall'  consisted  of  Drs.  Herbert  Norris,  Wharton 
Sinkler,  II.  B.  Hare,  Frederick  P.  Henry,  John  Ashhurst,  W.  s. 
Forbes,  Samuel  Ashhurst  and  John  II.  Packard,  with  eight  mem- 
bers of  i he  dispensary  staff,  four  resident  physicians,  a  curator  of 
the  museum  ami  a  superintendent,  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Knight.  The  ex- 
penses at  this  time  averaged  $45,000  annually.  This  was  after  a 
quarter  century  of  progress,  when  the  hospital  received  a  thousand 
patients  a  year.    Now  the  average  yearly  expense  is  considerably 


414  HISTOIIY  OF  MEDICINE 

above  $100,000,  and  over  2,800  patients  are  treated  annually.  This 
does  not  include  dispensary  patients,  the  number  of  which  is  stated 
at  33,000  per  year.  The  hospital,  as  looked  at  from  Lehigh  avenue, 
presents  an  imposing  array  of  five  great  structures,  united  on 
each  story  by  well-lighted  and  roomy  corridors.  The  staff 
according  to  the  last  report,  consists  of  Drs.  D.  J.  M.  Miller,  Caspar 
Morris,  D.  D.  Stewart,  Henry  M.  Fisher,  G.  G.  Davis,  Thomas  K. 
Neilson,  H.  C.  Deaver,  Richard  H.  Harte,  G.  O.  Ring,  W.  T.  Van  Pelt 
and  J.  S.  Gibbs,  with  sixteen  on  the  dispensary  staff,  eight  resident 
physicians  and  a  pathologist.  The  superintendent  is  Dr.  Henry 
Sj^kes. 

About  the  time  of  the  founding  of  the  two  last-named  church 
hospitals,  that  strong  feeling  of  nationality,  so  characteristic  of  their 
race,  had  inspired  the  Germans  of  Philadelphia  to  undertake  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  hospital  which,  while  open  to  all,  should  be  essen- 
tially German  in  its  management,  and  in  which  the  German  lan- 
guage should  be  spoken  by  physicians  and  nurses.  Attempts  to  carry 
out  this  project  were  made  in  1850  and  in  1853,  but  it  was  not  until 
1860  that  success  attended  them  and  a  charter  was  received.  The 
physicians  most  prominently  connected  with  its  founding  were  Drs. 
Tiedemann,  Keller  and  Seidensticker.  It  was  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1861,  that  the  William  Morris  homestead,  "Pennbrook,"  at  Twen- 
tieth and  Norris  streets,  was  purchased  for  the  German  Hospital, 
but  the  Government  had  need  of  it  for  sick  and  wounded  soldiers, 
and  occupied  it  from  the  middle  of  1862  to  the  summer  of  1866. 
The  board  then  obtained  control  of  the  property  and  the  hospital 
was  inaugurated,  with  accommodations  for  about  fifty  patients. 
The  institution  was  most  successful,  and  in  1872  measures  were 
taken  to  secure  the  present  hospital  site,  occupying  the  ground 
bounded  by  Girard  and  Corinthian  avenues  and  Poplar  and 
Twenty-second  streets.  The  removal  took  place  on  October  23d  of 
that  year,  when  the  main  building  was  erected.  In  1874  and  in 
1884,  extensive  additions  were  made,  and  in  1888  the  beautiful  Mary 
J.  Drexel  Home,  which  combines  a  Children's  Hospital  with  a  Home 
for  the  Aged,  of  German  birth  or  descent,  was  built  on  its  grounds; 
while  in  1S93  another  beautiful  hospital  wing  was  finished,  the 


IN   I'llll.  \  M.I. rill. \.  H5 

entire  group  making  this  great  hospital  one  of  the  tim-st  and,  with 
its  picturesque  grounds,  one  of  the  most  attractive  in  the  State. 
This  is  i  Ih>  si -in  of  the  [Jnited  States  Marine  1 1  <  >>■  |  »i  i  ;i  I  Service  ;ilse. 
in  connection  with  the  Delaware  baj  and  river  division  of  the 
service.  The  German  Hospital  qow  receives  more  than  2,600  « :« 
annually,  not  including  aboul  30,000  dispensary  patients.  No 
account  of  the  German  Bospital  can  be  complete  without  ;i  refer* 
ence  to  iis  greatest  benefactor,  .Mr.  John  I  >.  Lankenau.  "The  re- 
movaJ  of  the  hospital  to  its  present  site  was  made  possible  largely 
through  his  efforts,  and  the  rapid  but  substantial  developments 
which  the  hospital  underwent  at  that  time,  the  increased  accom- 
modations, the  rebuilding  and  the  erection  of  aew  buildings  on 
such  a  magnificent  scale,  the  introduction  of  the  deaconesses  and 
the  consequent  change  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the 
hospital,  are  all  due  to  the  untiring,  indefatigable  energy  and,  to 
a  great  extent,  to  the  personal  efforts  of  this  great  human  bene- 
factor." 

The  present  staff  of  i  lie  German  Hospital  includes  Drs.  Adam 
Trau,  L.  Wolff,  J.  C.  Wilson,  John  B.  Deaver,  G.  (J.  Ross,  A.  D. 
Whiting,  C.  S.  Turnbull,  A.  A.  Bliss,  Fairfax  Irwin  (1),  Carl  Frese 
and  five  residents.  About  the  same  time  as  the  movement  for  the 
establishment  of  the  German  Hospital  an  attempt  was  made  tip 
inaugurate  a  Charity  Hospital  Late  in  L857  it  seems  to  have  made 
a  start  with  some  difficulty,  but  was  not  incorporated  until  May  L3, 
L861,  when  it  opened  its  doors  in  Buttonwood  street,  just  below 
Broad  street.  Among  physicians  most,  interested  in  its  welfare 
in  the  first  decade  of  its  existence  were  Drs.  w.  1 1.  Pancoast,  II.  Y. 
Evans,  A.  M.  Slocum,  II.  St.  Clair  Ash,  II.  Leaman,  W.  M.  Welch, 
E.  I.  Santee,  L.  K.  Baldwin,  A.  II.  Fish,  N.  Hatfield,  T.  E.  Ridge- 
way  and  J.  M.  McGrath.  Afterward  it  was  removed  to  1si>l!  and 
1832  Hamilton  street,  and  in  August,  L893,  it  was  again  removed 
to  a  four-story  building  at  1831  Vine  street,  in  which  are  annually 
treated  about  7,000  cases,  including  dispensary  patients.  Its  pres- 
ent medical  stalT  includes  Drs.  H.  St.  Clair  Ash,  J.  H.  Lopez,  -lust  us 
Sinexon,  G.  E.  Stubbs,  A.  F.  Chase,  A.  B.  Hirsh,  W.  J.  Penriock, 
ill    Marine  hospital  sen  Ice. 


416  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Edwin  Lippincott,  G.  A.  Sulzer,  F.  Eft,  J.  H.  Boyd,  C.  P.  Franklin, 

S.  F.  Wilson,  M.  Franklin,  J.  D.  Moore  and  N.  H.  Saxnian. 

The  Gerinautown  Hospital  dates  from  September  3,  1863,  and 
was  first  suggested  by  Dr.  James  E.  Bhoads.  Drs.  James  Darrach 
and  Owen  J.  Wister  were  also  among  the  first  to  become  interested 
in  the  project.  It  began  as  a  dispensary  in  the  Town  Hall,  and 
met  with  such  encouraging  success  that,  six  years  later,  a  patient  of 
Dr.  TYister's,  Mrs.  P.  E.  Henry,  offered  to  add  a  cottage  hospital. 
The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  dispensary  and  hospital  were 
installed  in  their  present  quarters  in  1870.  Improvements  and 
additions  rapidly  followed,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  the  hospital, 
which  opened  with  twelve  beds,  now  has  an  annual  average  of  560 
cases,  with  a  dispensary  service  of  nearly  8,500  cases.  Drs.  A.  F. 
Miiller,  E.  W.  Deaver,  0.  A.  Currie  and  TV.  N.  Johnson  are  the  hos- 
pital staff.  The  dispensary  staff  numbers  six,  and  there  is  one 
resident  physician  and  four  consultants. 

Five  years  after  the  Germans  began  their  work  another  group, 
prompted  by  that  beneficence  which  is  so  actively  exerted,  so  far 
as  those  of  their  own  race  are  concerned,  founded  a  hospital, 
because,  as  stated  in  the  preamble  to  its  constitution,  "it  is  the  duty 
of  Israelites  to  take  care  of  the  suffering  and  needy  ones  among 
them,  and  as  the  sick  are  especially  objects  of  charity  and  public 
solicitude,  and  since  there  is  no  institution  now  in  existence  within 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  under  the  control  of  the  Israelites, 
wherein  they  can  place  their  sick,  and  where  these  can  enjoy  during 
their  illness  all  the  benefits  and  consolations  of  our  religion;  we,  the 
subscribers,  and  our  successors,  associate  ourselves  under  the  fol- 
lowing constitution  to  carry  out  the  benevolent  views  proposed  at. 
a  meeting  of  the  District  Grand  Lodge,  No.  3,  of  the  I.  O.  B'nai' 
Berith,  held  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  14th  of  August,  5621."  The 
incorporation  was  obtained  in  1865,  with  the  privilege  of  estab- 
lishing an  institution  that  should  be  a  "hospital  and  home/'  The 
result  has  been  that  in  the  thirty-two  years  since  that  date  there 
has  grown  up  a  great  establishment  on  the  Olney  road,  near  York 
road,  with  its  fine  group  of  buildings  for  the  hospital  proper,  the 
home,  the  dispensary  and  other  purposes,  which,  with  its  extensive 


l\   PHILA]  >ELPHIA.  II 1 

grounds  in  that  beautiful  Biiburban  region,  make  it  one  of  the  l « *;i « I 

i  no  hospitals  of  the  <ity.     All  patients  whosoever,  except,  of  COUrae, 

cases  of  contagious  disease,  are  admitted,  and  the  annual  average 
is  now  nearly  Too,  with  nearly  l,  loo  dispensary  cases.     The  present 

medical  stall'  consists  of  I  >rs.  15.  I!.  Wilson,  Thomas  O.  Moil  on.  L.  W. 

Bteinbach,  Joho  B.  Roberts,  W.  II.  Teller,  Adolph  Peldstein, 
Thomas  Betts,  S.  Solis-Cohen,  W.  A.  Cross,  P.  X.  Dercum,  Isaac 
Leopold,  E.  A.  Jarecki,  P.  A.  Trail  and  two  assistant   physicians. 

Like  the  other  Leading  hospitals,  it  also  has  its  own  training  school 
for  aurses,  and  all  the  appointments  of  a  first-class  institution. 

From  this  extreme  northern  pari  <>f  the  city  we  now  turn  i<> 
West  Filbert  street  ami  Powelton  avenue,  at  Thirty-ninth  street, 
where,  about  five  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Jewish  Hospital, 
another  hospital  was  instituted  under  the  auspices  of  a  religious 
denomination.  Enclosed  by  these  streets  and  Saunders  avenue 
were  the  extensive  grounds  of  an  institution  of  learning,  known 
popularly  as  the  "Old  Institute,"  and  owned  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  I  >. 
Saunders.  Whether  or  not  the  great  controversy  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  had  divided  that  sect  into  the  "old  and  new  schools," 
had  delayed  the  erection  of  a  Presbyterian  Hospital,  it  is  a  fact  that 
the  Presbyterian  Alliance  of  Philadelphia  determined  to  found  a 
great  charitable  institution  as  a  memorial  of  the  reunion  of  the 
two  bodies.  The  first  General  Assembly  after  the  reunion  met  in 
Philadelphia  in  May,  1870,  and  the  resolution  of  the  Presbyterian 
Alliance  of  Philadelphia,  above  referred  to,  was  adopted  in  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Saunders  offered  his  entire 
college  property  for  the  use  of  the  new  charity  in).      An  organiza- 


iin  The  object  of  the  charity  Intended  :is  a  memorial  of  the  reunion  of  the 
old  and  new  schools  was  not  specified  by  tho  Presbyterian  Alliance.  The  sug- 
gestion thai  il  should  take  the  form  Of  a  hospital  was  tirst  made  by  a  w  ell  know  n 
physician  of  Philadelphia,  Dr.  U.  M.  Glrvin,  as  appears  in  the  following  extract 
lion;  n  letter  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  K.  t».  Saunders  to  Prof.  F.  \\ .  Hastings, 
February  25,  1871:  "In  all  the  plans  which  presented  themselves  to  my  mind  for  the 
final  disposition  of  this  beautiful  grove  for  a  charitable  institution,  there  was 
not  the  tirst  thoughl  of  a  hospital.  Dr.  Glrvin,  who  originated  the  idea,  is  a 
member  of  the  Princeton  congregation;  yon.  with  whom  he  had  the  encouraging 
consultations  before  lie  approached  me  on  the  subject,  are  an  elder  in  the  Prince- 
ton church;  and  the  one.  whose  opposition  or  lack  of  cordialitj  even,  would  have 
wholly  prevented  my  action,  is  a  member  of  the  Princeton  church."  etc.  Dr. 
Saunders   in  this  portion  of  ins  letter,  was  endeavoring  to  show  how  largely  the 


418  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

tion  was  effected  on  April  3,  1871,  with  Key.  George  W.  Musgrave 
as  president,  and  a  formal  transfer  of  the  property  was  made  at 
the  grounds  on  July  1st.  The  "Old  Institute"  was  thus  converted 
into  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  with  beds  for  forty-five  patients. 
Over  #350,000  was  raised  the  first  year,  and  in  1875  the  first  of  the 
numerous  new  buildings  of  this  great  institution  was  erected.  Now 
it  has  property  worth  about  $800,000  and  an  endowment  of  $1,250,- 
000. 

On  the  old  college  grounds  are  now  eight  fine  structures,  all 
but  two  of  which  are  known  as  "wards" — two  for  men,  a  surgical 
and  a  medical;  two  for  women,  likewise;  one  for  children,  and  one 
for  emergencies  and  accidents.  Besides  this  plant,  the  hospital  owns 
a  valuable  tract  of  fifty-three  acres,  near  Devon,  sixteen  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  on  which  are  the  Richardson  and  Cathcart  homes, 
the  former  for  convalescents  of  both  sexes,  the  latter  for  incurables. 
Neither  of  these  homes  receives  free  cases.  The  Presbyterian  Hos- 
pital handles  annually  above  1,800  cases,  not  counting  about  2,500 
in  the  out-patient  department.  Its  medical  board  includes  Drs. 
Oscar  H.  Allis,  H.  B.  Wharton,  William  G.  Porter,  De  Forest  Wil- 
lard,  D.  F.  Woods,  John  H.  Musser,  E.  G.  Curtin,  S..S.  Stryker, 
Eobert  M.  Girvin,  E.  L.  Duer,  George  Strawbridge,  C.  H.  Burnett, 
W.  E.  Hughes  and  H.  W.  Catell,  with  four  others  for  Devon  and 
seventeen  for  the  dispensary  staff.  This  great  institution,  as  it 
now  exists,  is  almost  entirely  a  development  of  the  present  period. 

In  1880,  when  John  B.  Stetson,  the  hatter,  began  his  Union 
Mission  and  Hospital  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city  for  his 
employe's,  the  hospital  post  was  a  mere  dispensary;  but,  in  1891, 
when  he  opened  its  new  building  on  Fourth  street  above  Columbia 
avenue,  it  had  become  a  large  institution  with  twenty  members  on 
its  medical  staff,  and  Dr.  Thomas  H.  Fenton  as  medical  director. 

Its  present  staff,  according  to  the  last  report,  is  as  follows: 
Department  of  Internal  Medicine  and  Paediatrics — Physician,  John 
H.  Dripps,  M.  D.;  assistant  physician,  E.  G.  Hawkes,  M.  D.  Depart- 
ment of  Surgery — Consulting  surgeon,  John  H.  Packard,  M.  D.; 

movement  was  "Princetonian,"  and  incidentally  refers  to  Dr.  Girvin's  admirable 
suggestion. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

Burgeon,  \v.  II.  Noble,  .M.  l>.  Departmenl  for  Diseases  of  Women 
— Consulting  surgeon,  Howard  A.  Kelly,  .M.  D.;  surgeon,  Chas.  P. 
Noble,  M.  D.  Departmenl  for  I  diseases  of  the  Eari  Nose  and  Throat 
— Emeritus  surgeon,  Gar]  Seiler,  M.  I>.;  consulting  surgeon,  Har« 

risen  Allen,  M.  D.;  Burgeon,  Chas.  B.  Warder,  M.  !>.:  assistanl 
geon,  Lewis  S.  Somers,  M.  I).    Department  for  Diseases  of  the  I 
— Assistanl  surg<  on,  tsaac  Leopold,  .M.  I>. 

It  was  reserved  for  a  physician,  l>r.  Bcotl  Stewart,  ;■  trustee 
of  St.  Paul's  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  to  take  the  initiative  in 
founding  the  Methodisl  Episcopal  Hospital  on  South  Broad  street 
He  provided  the  funds  for  the  institution  in  his  will  in  L877,  about 
six  years  after  the  opening  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital.  It  is  an 
interest  ing  and  somewhat  anomalous  fact  that  every  member  of  the 
staff  of  this  hospital  must,  in  accordance  with  a  provision  of  Dr. 
Stewart's  will,  have  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  as  well 
as  that  of  M.  D. 

Dr.  Stewart's  bequest  not  being  operative  until  his  sister's 
decease,  it  was  not  until  February  14,  1885,  that  a  charter  was 
secured,  and  the  same  month  Drs.  H.  C.  Wood,  D.  M.  Barr,  J.  S. 
Pearson,  C.  K.  Mills,  S.  I).  Risley,  S.  Harlow  and  A.  C.  Deakyne  were 
elected  as  an  advisory  board.  Numerous  difficulties  having  been 
overcome,  on  July  8,  1887,  a  lot  about  400  by  500  feet,  bounded  by 
Broad,  Wolfe,  Thirteenth  and  Kilner  sheets,  was  purchased.  The 
plan  provided  that  an  administration  building  should  front  on 
Broad  street,  with  three  large  pavilions  on  each  side.  So  far  only 
one  pavilion  has  been  erected,  but  this  fine  structure  and  the  large 
administration  building  present  an  excellent  idea  of  the  future 
appearance  of  the  hospital  when  its  plans  are  completed.  Already 
it  compares  favorably  with  any  similar  institution  in  Philadelphia. 
The  present  medical  staff  is  as  follows:  Drs.  R.  0.  Norris,  T.  S. 
Westcott,  G.  E.  Shoemaker,  W.  R.  Hoch,  J.  II.  Lloyd,  W.  0.  Hol- 
lopeter,  J.  P.  O.  Griffith,  John  B.  Roberts,  II.  R.  Wharton,  R.  G. 
Le  Conte,  E.  W.  Holmes,  (i.  E.  de  Schweinitz,  B.  A.  Randall  and 
S.  S.  Kneass,  with  a  dispensary  st;itT  of  eleven.  At  present  the 
annual  average  of  cases  is  about  650,  with  ever  3,200  out-patients. 
The  annual  expense  of  the  hospital  is  about  $35,000. 


420  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

The  Temple,  the  great  Baptist  Church  at  North  Broad  and 
Berks  streets,  under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  Bussell  H.  Conwell,  fol- 
lowed in  1891,  with  the  next  general  hospital,  located  on  North 
Broad  and  Ontario  streets.  The  Samaritan  Hospital,  as  it  is  called, 
is  so  far  small,  with  only  a  bed  capacity  of  about  20  or  25,  in  an 
old  residence  building,  but  it  is  doing  an  excellent  work,  especially 
in  its  ambulance  and  dispensary  service,  and  undoubtedly  has  an 
assured  future  as  one  of  the  great  denominational  hospitals  of  the 
city.     Dr.  E.  S.  Coburn  is  physician  in  charge. 

The  most  recent  general  hospital  is  a  small,  but  excellent,  one 
for  colored  people,  at  1512  Lombard  street,  not  far  from  the  Poly- 
clinic, called — in  honor  of  a  distinguished  member  of  the  African' 
race — the  Frederick  Douglass  Memorial  Hospital  and  Training 
School  (for  nurses).  It  was  founded  in  1895,  and  has  a  medical 
staff  of  twenty-three,  including  some  of  the  best  known  names  in 
the  city.  Dr.  N.  F.  Mossell  is  chief  of  staff.  It  originated  in  a 
demand  for  trained  colored  nurses,  and,  in  consequence,  especial 
attention,  unusual  in  so  small  an  institution,  is  given  to  the  train- 
ing of  nurses.  The  hospital  was  opened  in  a  neat  three-story  brick 
building,  and  its  two  years'  work  has  proved  that  it  has  supplied 
a  long-felt  want. 

Since  none  of  the  general  hospitals  receive  maternity  cases, 
it  has  naturally  resulted  that  the  special  hospitals  are  mostly 
devoted  to  obstetrics  and  the  diseases  of  women  and  children.  In 
that  long  period  from  the  founding  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital 
to  about  the  year  1850,  when  the  denominational  hospitals  began, 
the  need  of  institutions  for  the  care  of  indigent  women  during  con- 
finement was  widely  felt,  and  was  first  supplied  by  the  Lying-in 
Charity  in  1828,  and  a  little  later  by  the  Preston  Pietreat.  The 
Philadelphia  Lying-in  Charity  was  instituted  in  1828  by  Dr.  Joseph 
Warrington  as  a  society  for  aiding  indigent  maternity  cases  in  their 
own  homes,  and  is  the  oldest  institution  of  the  kind  in  this  country. 
A  more  formal  organization  was  made  on  November  22,  1831,  at  a 
meeting  attended  bjr  Drs.  Seattle,  Jewell,  Spackman,  Steward,  Ash, 
Watson  and  Warrington.  Incorporation  was  secured  May  7,  1832, 
and,  on  November  12,  the  first  annual  meeting,  at  which  forty-two 


IN   I'll  LLADELPHIA.  r.'l 

cases  were  reported,  was  held.  I >r.  I tewees  was  made  president  and 
Dr.  P.  s.  Beattie  chairman  of  the  medical  board,  wit  h  Dr.  Harper 
Walton  as  secretary.  The  city  was  divided  into  six  districts,  with 
two  physicians  and  three  managers  i<>  each,  the  physicians  being 
Drs.  Robert  Stewart,  George  Spackman,  F.S.  Beattie,  E.  Y.  Howell, 
G.  s.  Schott,  C.  B.  Matthews,  T.  P.  Ash,  II.  Walton,  J.  <;.  Nancrede, 
W.  Jewell,  J.  Dunotl  and  .1.  Green.  In  isii  tin-  Nurses'  Society 
united  with  the  Lying-in  charily,  and  in  lsr>n  a  Nurses'  Home  was 
secured  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Eighth  and  Race  streets.  The 
first  real  headquarters  of  the  Lying-in  Charity  opened  July  '2  of 
that  year.  In  a  certain  sense  it  was  an  ally  of  the  Philadelphia 
dispensary  obstetrical  service  during  these  early  years  and  endea  v- 
ored  to  supply  a.  want  not  provided  for  by  the  other  hospitals  of 
that  date.  In  L860  the  managers  secured  a  now  home  for  the  Char- 
ity at  the  southeast,  corner  of  Eleventh  and  Cherry  streets,  where 
its  present  beautiful  four-story  structure  stands,  as  what  may  be 
called  a.  highly  organized  school  of  obstetrics  and  gynecology. 
There  have  been  many  eminent  physicians  connected  with  this 
excellent  institution,  but  when,  in  1852,  Dr.  Warrington  announced 
Dr.  Ellwood  Wilson's  appointment  as  his  senior  assistant,  the 
Lying-in  Charity  acquired  him  to  whom  the  institution  owes  iis 
most  interesting  development,  ami  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  long 
years  of  service  as  its  chief.  Next  to  Wilson,  Dr.  Albert  II.  Smith, 
Who  was  elected  a  member  of  the  stall'  in  1863,  was  the  most  active 
contributor  to  the  success  of  I  he  Lying-in  <  Jharity.  Dr.  (  diver  Hop- 
kinson,  Jr.,  W.  R.  Wilson  ami  (I.  M.  Boyd,  with  four  residents  and 
six  dispensary  physicians,  constitute  the  present  stall'. 

When   the  Lying-in  Charity  had   been   in  existence   for  al t 

seven  years,  Dr.  . Jonas  I'reston  made  a  will,  in  L835,  in  which  he 
said :  "It has  long  been  my  opinion  that  there  ought  to  be  a  Lying- 
in  I  lospital  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia  for  indigent  married  women 
of  good  character,  distinct  and  unconnected  with  any  other  hospi- 
tal," ami  gave  property  for  its  founding.    It  has  now  had  a  career 

of  over  sixty  years  and  has  a  capacity  of  fifty  beds. 

Preston  Retreat,  as  it   is  called,  is  located  at  Twentieth  ami 
Hamilton  sheets.     The  names  of  ])\s.  William  Goodell  and  Joseph 


422  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Price  will  always  be  associated  with  the  excellent  work  of  this 
noble  charity.  Dr.  Bichard  C.  Norris  is  the  present  physician  in 
charge. 

In  February,  1873,  three  of  the  obstetrical  staff  and  some  of 
the  ex-residents  of  "Blockley"  (the  Philadelphia  Hospital),  believ- 
ing that  a  special  institution  should  be  formed  to  receive  and  help 
a  large  class  of  unfortunates  who  were  about  to  become  mothers, 
opened  the  Maternity  Hospital  at  734  South  Tenth  street,  which  was 
incorporated  on  January  2,  following.  The  first  year  it  received 
69  cases,  and  year  by  year  there  was  a  gradual  increase,  until  1885, 
when  the  number  of  cases,  for  the  first  time,  exceeded  one  hundred. 
During  the  year  ending  September  30,  1896,  161  permits  for  admis- 
sion were  issued.  This  institution  and  the  Lying-in  Charity  are 
associated  with  the  Midnight  Mission,  which  cares  for  the  mother 
until  childbirth  occurs;  then,  when  mother  and  child  are  strong 
enough,  they  are  sent  to  "The  Sheltering  Arms,"  and  later  the 
Children's  Aid  Society,  or  interested  friends,  directs  them  to  a  home 
in  the  country,  "or  to  some  other  place  of  security  and  self-sup- 
port." Two  members  of  the  Board  of  Governors  of  the  Maternity 
Hospital  deserve  special  mention  on  account  of  their  self-sacrificing 
devotion  to  its  interests.  These  are  Dr.  J.  W.  White,  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  board,  and  Dr.  James  V.  Ingham.  The  latter  has,  for 
many  years,  been  identified  with  this  noble  charity-,  and  has  prob- 
ably done  more  for  its  welfare  than  any  other  individual.  The 
Maternity  medical  staff  includes  Drs.  W.  C.  Goodell,  L.  J.  Ham- 
mond, L.  S.  Smith  and  D.  T.  Laine,  with  Drs,  Stille,  Penrose,  Mitch- 
ell, Starr,  Duer,  White,  Williams  and  Oliver  as  consultants. 

The  northeastern  part  of  the  city  was  once  the  site  of  one  of 
the  earliest  hospitals  for  diseases  peculiar  to  women  and  children 
amongst  the  poor.  This  was  the  Gynecological  Hospital,  created 
in  July,  1871,  and  opened  at  1621  Poplar  street.  Its  medical  board 
were  Drs.  J.  J.  Reese,  J.  A.  McFerran  and  Theodore  H.  Seybert. 
In  the  same  part  of  the  city  arose  the  Gynecean  Hospital,  incor- 
porated January  10,  1888.  This  was  an  outgrowth  of  the  work  of 
the  old  Philadelphia  Dispensary  on  Fifth  street,  and  has  the  same 
aims  as  the  last  mentioned  hospital. 


[N    PHILADELPHIA.  123 

It  was  founded  by  I  m-.  Joseph  Price,  opened  in  L880,  and  incor- 
porated January  l<>,  LS88.  lis  oral  sin-  w;is  the  corner  <>r  Twelfth 
and  Cherry  streets)  Later  ii  occupied  ;i  house  <»n  Cherry  street,  and, 
finally,  four  or  five  years  ago,  was  removed  to  247  \oi-i  ii  Eighteen!  b 
street.  While  under  1  >r.  Price's  management  the  work  of  the  insti- 
tution was  largely  among  private  patients.  lis  present  staff  con- 
sists of  I>rs.  r.  B.  Penrose,  J.  M.  Baldy,  J.  Ii.  Bhober,  K.  <;.  LeConte, 
L.  s.  Smith,  M.  O'Hara,  Jr.,  II.  1  >.  Beyea,  Norton  Downs,  W.  P. 
Atlee,  J.  .M.  Da  Costa  and  II.  C.  Bloom. 

In  lss:J  Dr.  Howard  A.  Kelly  founded  the  Kensington  Bospital 
for  Women.  In  1887  it  was  incorporated,  and  after  ten  years  of 
successful  growth  averaged  over  400  cases  annually.  It  has  a  new 
building  of  forty-five-bed  capacity,  erected  in  1897,  at  136  Diamond 
street.  Its  medical  staff  includes  Drs.  C.  1*.  Noble,  surgeon-in- 
chief,  H.  A.  Kelly,  W.  H.  Parish,  John  B.  Roberts,  W.  W.  Keen, 
II.  A.  Wilson,  C.  B.  Penrose,  James  Tyson,  C.  K.  Mills,  R.  P.  Harris. 
II.  E.  Applebach,  W.  E.  Parke,  E.  H.  Byers  and  several  assistant 
physicians. 

WEST    PHILADELPHIA    HOSPITAL    FOR    WOMEN. 

Origin:  This  hospital  was  started  because  of  the  realized 
need  of  a  hospital  under  the  care  of  women  physicians  in  this  sec- 
tion of  the  city. 

Dr.  Elizabeth  H.  Comly-Howell  was  the  one  most  actively 
interested  in  the  establishment  of  the  hospital,  and  it  was  al  her 
call  that  the  ladies  met  who  formed  the  Board  of  Managers. 

History:  The  hospital  was  opened  July  15,  L889,  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Forty-firsl  and  Ogden  streets.  It  occupied  a  pri- 
vate house  and  accommodated  ten  patients.  The  parlor  was  used 
as  a  dispensary.  The  hospital  was  incorporated  January  18,  L890. 
For  the  first,  few  months  the  hospital  was  under  the  care  of  a  physi- 
cian in  charge,  but  in  1890  two  internes  were  appointed,  one  to 
serve  in  the  house  and  the  other  to  have  charge  of  the  out-practice. 
In  April,  1891,  4035  Parrish  street  was  purchased  and  the  hospital 
moved  there,  as  the  original  quarters  had  become  very  cramped. 
This  change  gave  eighteen  beds.  In  the  spring  of  L894,  there  qoI 
being  sufficient  room  for  the  nurses,   1048  Ogden  street  was  pur- 


424  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

chased.  The  second  and  third  stories  were  used  for  the  nurses,  and 
the  first  floor  as  a  dispensary.  The  dispensary  now  being  moved 
from  the  main  building,  a  ward  was  opened  on  the  first  floor  with  a 
capacity  of  seven  beds.  Alterations  were  made  on  the  second  floor, 
by  which  were  secured  a  fine  operating  room,  finished  in  tile;  an 
etherizing  room  and  a  surgical  ward  adjoining.  The  management 
was  somewhat  altered  during  this  year,  a  trained  nurse  being 
appointed  as  superintendent  of  the  hospital.  In  1895  the  roof  to 
the  main  building  was  raised  so  as  to  give  the  full  height  of  ceiling 
to  the  third  floor  rooms.  Additions  were  made  to  the  back  build- 
ings, a  new  diet  kitchen  built,  and  the  laboratory  and  lavatory 
arrangements  improved.  Accommodation  was  made  for  28 
patients.  In  1896  a  lot  adjoining  the  hospital  was  pur- 
chased, giving  space  for  a  nice  garden,  from  which  fresh  vege- 
tables are  supplied.  A  house  adjoining  the  dispensary  was  rented 
and  opened  in  July  as  a  maternity  house,  with  seven  beds.  This 
gave  a  total  bed  capacity  of  thirty-live.  In  the  spring  of  1897, 
1046  Ogden  street,  which  had  been  used  as  a  maternity,  was 
purchased. 

Training  School  for  Nurses:  This  was  opened  July,  1890. 
The  first  nurse  commencement  was  held  October  25,  1894,  at  which 
time  four  nurses  received  diplomas.  Fourteen  nurses  have  gradu- 
ated from  the  school. 

Original  Medical  Staff:  Physician  in  charge,  Dr.  Elizabeth  L. 
Peck. 

Attending  Physicians,  Drs.  Elizabeth  H.  Comly-Howell,  Ida  E. 
Eichardson  and  Elizabeth  L.  Peck. 

Ophthalmologist,  Dr.  Amy  S.  Barton. 

Pathologist,  Dr.  Marie  K.  Formad. 

Consulting  Physicians,  Drs.  Anna  E.  Broomall,  Hannah  T. 
Croasdale,  Jas.  B.  Walker,  W.  W.  Keen,  John  H.  Musser,  J.  B.  Rob- 
erts. 

Clinicians,  Drs.  Elizabeth  H.  Comly-Howell,  Elizabeth  L.  Peck, 
Emily  Waterman- Wyeth,  A.  Helena  Goodwin,  Anna  P.  Sharpless. 

Present  Medical  Staff:  Attending  staff,  Drs.  Ida  E.  Richard- 
son, Elizabeth  L.  Peck,  A.  Helena  Goodwin,  Mary  W.  Griscom. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  (35 

Assistant  Physicians,  Dpg.  Frances  Hatehette,  Lida  M.  Stew- 
art, Margaret  F.  Butler,  Anna  P.  Sharpless. 

Laryngologist,  l>r.  Emma  E.  Mussim. 

( >plii  halmologist,  I >r.  Marj  ( \ei  i  \ . 

Pal  uologist,  I  >i'.  -I.  I  MiMon  Steele. 

Consulting  Physicians,  Drs.  Anna  E.  Broomall,  Hannah  T. 
Croasdale,  Amy  s.  Barton,  Elizabeth  II.  Comly-Howell,  Jas.  I'.. 
Walker,  Chas.  II.  Burnett,  W.  W.  Keen,  John  B.  Roberts,  Thos.  <). 
Morton,  Chas.  K.  .Mills,  John  II.  Musser,  -Fas.  Tyson.  William  Pep- 
per. 

The  District  Nurse  Society,  now  the  Visiting  Nurses'  Society, 
was  begun  March  2,  L886,  somewhat  after  the  plan  of  tin*  similar 
society  in  Manchester,  England,  ami  has  done  a  good  work  supple- 
mentary to  the  above  lines.  It  has  a  central  office  at  1340  Lombard 
street  ami  two  branches  in  Huntingdon  ami  Carver  streets.  The 
Children's  Hospital  was  opened  in  November,  1855.  It  was  first 
begun  on  Blight  street,  near  Tine,  east  of  Broad  street,  with  Drs. 
T.  Ilewson  Bache,  F.  W.  Lewis,  R.  A.  F.  Penrose,  the  elder  Pepper 
and  J.  F.  Meigs  as  its  medical  staff.  In  ISC",  after  two  removals, 
its  present  building  on  Twenty-second  street,  below  Walnut,  was 
erected,  and  was  opened  in  February,  1867.  Since  its  establish- 
ment in  that  situation,  its  growth  and  development  have  been 
rapid  and  varied.  It  now  has  a  capacity  of  ninety-seven 
beds,  and  a  country  branch  for  thirty-two  patients.  The  annual 
average  is  about   Too  cases,  with   from  5,000  to  7,000  dispensary 

cases. 

Besides  the  above  mentioned  institutions  there  are  special  hos- 
pitals devoted  to  the  treat  men t  of  such  affections  as  the  following: 
Diseases  of  the  mind  and  nervous  system,  diseases  of  the  eye,  UOSpi- 
tals  for  the  treatment  of  deformities,  hospitals  for  incurables,  etc. 
The  oldest  of  these  is  the  beautiful  Friends'  Asylum  for  "those  de- 
prived of  their  reason,"  in  oneof  the  most  picturesque  situations  i <> 
be  found  near  Frankford,  about  ten  miles  from  Philadelphia.  In 
lsi:>,  the  year  that  Dr.  Rush  died,  its  founders  proposed  a  hospital 
where  "the  insane  mighl  see  that  they  were  regarded  as  men  and 
brethren."     Its  eighty  acres  of  lawns  and  gardens  make  a  park  of 


426  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

rare  beauty.    To  its  other  buildings  has  been  recently  added  a  new 
Nurses'  Training  School — ElmhursL 

In  this  connection  may  be  mentioned  the  immense  plant  of  the 
great  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Norristown,  which  is  only 
incidentally  Philadelphian.  Philadelphia,  however,  furnishes 
about  two-thirds  of  its  2,000  inmates.  The  institution  was  founded 
eighteen  years  ago.  Its  medical  staff  consists  of  Drs.  D.  D.  Rich- 
ardson, A.  W.  Wilmarth,  G.  W.  McCaffrey,  Alice  Bennett,  S.  J. 
Taber,  Mary  Willits,  Florence  H.  Watson,  William  C.  Posey,  E.  M. 
Corson,  Edward  Martin,  O.  Horwitz,  E.  W.  Holmes,  Isaac  Ott  and 
S.  P.  Gerhard.  Thus,  with  this  state  institution,  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  for  the  Insane,  and  the  Friends'  Asylum,  Philadelphia  has 
long  generously  provided  for  the  most  unfortunate  of  her  afflicted, 
although  provision  for  the  greater  number  has  been  made  in  the 
present  period.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  other  city  can  show  a  longer 
and  brighter  record  in  this  department  of  medical  and  charitable 
interest. 

Just  twenty  years  after  the  Friends  established  their  Frank- 
ford  asylum  for  the  mentally  afflicted,  there  was  completed,  on  Race 
between  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  streets,  a  hospital  for  the  in- 
digent blind  and  lame,  under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  City 
Trusts,  to  which  this  duty  was  entrusted  by  a  bequest  of  the  late 
James  Wills.  The  Wills  Hospital,  as  it  is  called,  was  undertaken 
on  May  24,  1831,  when  the  bequest  was  received  by  the  Mayor,  and 
the  first  building  was  completed  in  1833.  Extensions  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time,  until  the  institution  now  handles  over 
13,000  cases  annually.  Indeed,  it  has  grown  to  be  not  only  a  great 
eye  hospital,  but  a  great  school  of  ophthalmology,  somewhat  as  the 
Lying-in  Charity  is  a  school  of  obstetrics  and  gynecology.  This 
arises  from  the  fact  that,  without  design,  from  the  first  the  treat- 
ment of  eye  diseases  has  been  so  prominent  a  feature  of  the  institu- 
tion as  to  give  the  hospital  its  popular  name.  Among  the  surgeons 
whose  long  and  skillful  service  has  made  a  world-wide  reputation 
for  Wills  Hospital,  are:  Drs.  Littell,  Hall,  Harlan,  Keyser,  Norris, 
Goodman,  McClure,  Strawbridge  and  T.  G.  Morton.  The  first  sur- 
geons were  Drs.  Isaac  Parrish,  S.  Littell,  Isaac  Hays  and  George 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  121 

F<».\,  and  the  first  physicians,  Drs.  George  Spackman,  Fredk.  Turn- 
penny, P.  B.  Howell  and  R.  Stewart  its  present  staff,  according 
tot  ho  last  report,  is  composed  Of  Drs.  Conrad  Berens,  Prank  Fisher, 
<;.  ( !.  Harlan,  Eward  Jackson,  P.  D.  Keyser  (o),  W.  VV.  McClure, 
W.  P.  N<»iiis,  Charles  A.  Oliver,  Samuel  D.  EUsley,  William  Thom- 
son, ten  assist  a  ni  surgeons  and  two  resident  Burgeons,  lis  greatest 
growth  has  been  during  the  last  twenty-seven  years,  and  its  services 
are  entirely  gratuitous. 

Exactly  twenty  years  after  Wills  Hospital  was  completed,  "a 
number  of  bright,  enlightened  and  progressive  physicians  and  sur- 
geons of  Philadelphia,"  says  Dr.  Laurence  Tiirnbiill,  in  a  recent 
address,  "felt  the  necessity  of  organizing  in  the  profession  a  new 
mode  of  classifying  and  treating  diseases,  with  facility  and  greater 
success  by  means  of  specialties,  after  the  plan  of  the  Vienna  Hos- 
pital, each  physician  selecting  the  department  for  which  he,  either 
from  study,  inclination  or  experience,  was  best  fitted."  Drs.  O.  H. 
Partridge,  Joseph  Klapp  and  others  among  these  physicians,  in 
1853,  proceeded  to  establish  what  was  then  called  "The  Western 
Infirmary,"  their  organization  being  effected  in  May,  1854.  Its 
first  location  was  over  a  drag  store  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Pine 
and  Seventeenth  streets,  with  two  rooms,  but  the  facilities  there 
afforded  soon  proving  inadequate,  the  infirmary  was  removed  to 
Lukens  place,  on  Christian  street,  between  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth. 
In  185S  the  title  was  changed  to  "Western  Clinical  Infirmary  and 
Hospital  for  Incurables,"  and  after  two  other  removals  on  Lombard 
street,  Dr.  Laurence  Turnbull  was  chosen  manager,  and,  in  1886, 
took  the  lead  in  securing  its  present  site  at  the  southeast  corner 
of  South  Broad  and  Catherine  streets,  where  were  soon  erected  its 
present  fine  buildings.  The  hospital  now  averages  about  300  cases 
annually,  from  1,000  to  2, (MM)  accident  cases,  and  an  out-patient 
service  of  over  8, (MM).  Its  present  staff  includes:  Drs.  George  fcfc- 
Clellan,  Edward  Martin,  c.  II.  Frazier,  Charles  Wirgman,  A.  E. 
Roussel,  G.  B.  Massey,  B.  0.  Hirst,  John  B.  Shober,  VV.  B.  Atkinson, 
E.  P.  Davis,  Lewis  Brinton,  J.  M.  Taylor,  P.  D.  Castle,  W.  C.  Posey, 
E.  L.  Yansant,  A.  \Y.  Watson,  II.  \Y.  Stelwagon,  two  residents  and 

mi    since  deceased. 


428  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

one  clinical  assistant.  Its  name  has  again  been  changed  to  "How- 
ard Hospital  and  Infirmary  for  Incurables,"  and,  as  has  been  seen, 
its  greatest  development  has  been  wholly  within  the  present  period. 

Fourteen  years  after  Howard  Hospital  was  projected,  Drs.  T.  G. 
Morton,  H.  E.  Goodman,  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  S.  D.  and  S.  W.  Gross 
and  G.  TV.  Norris,  together  with  others,  non-medical  men,  proposed 
to  found  the  first  regular  chartered  institution  in  this  country  for 
the  relief  of  deformities,  such  as  distortion  of  the  spine,  club-foot, 
knock-knee,  affections  of  the  joints,  contraction  of  tendons  and 
muscles  and  the  like.  In  October,  1867,  the  step  was  decided  upon, 
and  in  December  the  Philadelphia  Orthopedic  Hospital  was  incor- 
porated on  plans  similar  to  those  of  the  great  foreign  institutions 
for  the  treatment  of  deformities.  A  building  was  secured  at  15 
South  Ninth  street,  then  opposite  the  University.  In  1870  there 
was  added  the  department  for  nervous  diseases,  and  in  February, 
1872,  a  new  home  at  North  Seventeenth  and  Summer  streets  was 
secured.  It  then  took  its  title,  "Orthopaedic  Hospital  and  Infirmary 
for  Nervous  Diseases,"  and  on  March  19, 1887,  its  present  fine  build- 
ing was  opened.  The  present  medical  staff  consists  of  Drs.  T.  G. 
Morton,  W.  W.  Keen,  G.  G.  Davis,  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  Wharton 
Sinkler,  M.  J.  Lewis,  G.  E.  Morehouse,  E.  G.  Le  Conte,  W.  J.  Taylor, 
J.  M.  Spellissy,  T.  S.  K.  Morton,  J.  M.  Taylor,  G.  Hinsdale,  J.  K. 
Mitchell,  F.  X.  Dercum,  J.  H.  W.  Rhein,  G.  E.  de  Schweinitz,  B.  C. 
Hirst,  C.  W.  Burr,  D.  B.  Kyle,  W.  J.  Freeman  and  two  residents. 
The  annual  average  is  now  nearly  400  cases,  with  about  3,800  clin- 
ical cases.  This  institution,  too,  is  largely  the  product  of  the  pres- 
ent period. 

In  1872,  the  same  year  in  which  the  Orthopaedic  Hospital 
moved  to  Summer  street,  a  number  of  temperance  workers  and 
philanthropists  met  early  in  the  year  to  devise  some  method  of  help- 
ing the  inebriate,  from  the  point  of  view  of  treating  him  "both  as 
an  invalid  and  a  sinner,"  without  considering  him  as  the  subject  of 
hereditary  disease.  The  result  was  the  Franklin  Reformatory 
Home  for  Inebriates,  organized  on  April  1,  1872.  As  over  eighty 
per  cent  of  inebriates  require  medical  treatment,  it  is  in  a  true 
sense  a  hospital.     Its  excellent  home  is  situated  at  911-15  Locust 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

Btreet,  and  its  annual  average  of  cases  is  above  200.  The  medical 
stair  includes  Drs.  E.  E.  Graham,  .M.  II.  Williams,  W.  E.  Bughea 
and  W.  C.  Posey.  Five  years  later,  L877,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
City  Mission,  which  had  been  organized  seven  years  before,  opened 
its  department  for  consumptives.  'Phis  consists  of  the  Bouse  of 
Mercy  for  Men,  ai  ill  Spruce  snoot  and  the  Women's  Home  for 
Consumptives,  at  Chestnut  Bill,  the  oldest  and  Largest  institu- 
tion of  the  kind  in  the  siate.  Over  2,300  cases  have  been  treated 
since  their  organization,  and  the  annual  average  of  cases  reaches 
about  170.  During  the  same  year,  ou  May  1,  L877,  the  Philadel- 
phia Home  for  Incurables  and  Cancer  House  was  organized,  and 
now,  after  twenty  years,  has  an  average  of  about  eighty  patients. 
So  many  applicants  were  cancel-  cases  i  hat  a  cancer  annex  has  been 
established.  The  home,  with  its  several  structures,  is  located  ;it 
Forty-eighth  and  Woodland  avenue  (Darby  road),  and  its  medical 
stall  consists  of  Drs.  ( '.  P.  Turner,  W.  C.  Dixon,  W.  W.  Keen,  D.- 
Forest Willard,  E.  L.  Duer,  C.  S.  Turnbull,  C.  W.  Burr,  D.  B.  Kyle, 
S.  \V.  Morton,  Harry  Tonlmin  and  Isaac  Leopold.  This  institution 
and  the  Episcopal  Homes  for  Consumptives  had  been  in  operation 
thirteen  years  when  Drs.  T.  J.  Mays,  L.  F.  Flick,  Charles  W.  Dulles 
and  others  secured  the  incorporation  of  Bush  Hospital  for  Con- 
sumption and  Allied  Diseases  on  September  15,  1890.  It  was 
designed  to  meet  demands  that  the  Episcopalian  homes,  with  all 
their  capacity,  could  not  meet,  for,  says  Judge  Ashman,  in  ''.'1, 
"in  every  year  more  victims  succumb  to  this  disease  in  the  City  of 
Philadelphia  than  have  fallen  in  battles  which  have  become  his- 
toric." At  first  it  was  located  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Pine  and 
Twenty-second  streets,  but  in  July,  1895,  it  secured  its  present 
extensive  "rounds  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Thirty-third  and  Lan- 
caster avenue,  where  it  undoubtedly  has  a  great  future  before  it, 
and  where  it  is  already  doing  an  excellent  work.  Its  medical  staff 
consists  of  Drs.  Alfred  Stille,  K.  (J.  Curtin,  Harrison  Allen,  T.  J. 
Mays,  J.  P.  C.  Griffith,  S.  Solis-Oohen,  T.  M.  Tyson,  \Y.  R.  Ho.  h, 
B.  A.  Randall,  Charles  \Y.  Dulles  and  Joseph  McFarland,  with  two 
physicians  for  the  out-patient  department  When  this  institution 
moved  to  Thirty-third  street,  in  1895,  the  colony  pari  of  the  Penn- 


430  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

sylvania  Epileptic  Hospital  and  Colony  Farm  was  chartered,  and 
the  following  year  was  merged  with  the  St.  Clement's  Church  Hos- 
pital, which  had  been  organized  in  1886.  The  hospital  is  located  at 
Cherry  and  Claymont  streets,  and  the  farm  at  Oakbourne,  in  Ches- 
ter County.  These  institutions  are  doing  an  excellent  work.  The 
present  medical  staff  includes :  Drs.  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  J.  M.  Da 
Costa,  T.  G.  Morton,  J.  W.  White,  G.  E.  de«Schweinitz,  C.  H.  Burnett, 
S.  W.  Morton,  H.  Shoemaker,  G.  E.  Shoemaker,  H.  A.  Slocum,  W.  C. 
Posey,  A.  A.  Bliss,  W.  G.  Spiller  and  A.  F.  Wi truer. 

The  City  is  represented  in  the  Municipal  Hospital  for  Con- 
tagious Diseases,  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  boards  of  health 
and  quarantine  service;  the  State  by  the  Norristown  institution, 
already  mentioned,  and  the  Nation  by  the  United  States  Naval  Asy- 
lum and  Hospital  on  the  old  Pemberton  estate  on  the  Schuylkill,  at 
Gray's  Ferry  road  and  Bainbridge  street.  This  was  bought  for  the 
Government  in  1826  by  Dr.  Thomas  Harris,  a  Pennsylvanian  and 
a  naval  surgeon.  As  an  institution  which  has  sheltered  many  of  the 
defenders  of  our  country  it  has  an  historic  interest,  which,  however, 
is  chiefly  national.  Its  hospital  department,  established  in  1868, 
has  a  capacity  of  100.  In  addition  to  these  institutions  there  are 
private  enterprises  innumerable  in  almost  every  line  of  medical 
activity,  many  of  these  institutions  being  of  the  first  order  in  the 
excellence  of  their  work.  The  dispensaries  of  the  city,  from  the 
foundation  of  the  old  Philadelphia  and  the  Northern  dispensaries 
down  to  the  present,  have  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  mention  them  all  in  a  work  of  this  sort.  Indeed, 
every  department  of  the  medical  activity  of  Philadelphia,  during 
the  twenty  years  since  the  Medical  Congress  of  1876,  has  increased 
at  a  rate  far  beyond  that  of  any  former  period  of  equal  length. 

Philadelphia,  during  the  present  year,  has  witnessed  two 
events  of  national  significance,  which  may  fitly  close  the  story  of 
the  present  period,  as  well  as  that  of  her  medical  career  of  nearly 
two  and  a  half  centuries.  One  of  these  is  the  semi-centennial  anni- 
versary of  the  foundation  of  the  American  Medical  Association  in 
Philadelphia,  the  fifth  meeting  of  that  body  held  in  this  city.  In 
his  opening  address  of  that  event  on  June  1,  1897,  at  the  Academy 


i\   I'iiii.  \i»i:i.rin  \.  (31 

of  Music,  President  Senn  gave  to  Philadelphia  the  following  trib- 
ute:    "It  is  appropriate,"  said  he,  "that  von  should  have  selected 
Philadelphia  as  the  place  of  meeting  il  this  time.     1 1  was  here  that 
the  organization  of  our  association  was  completed  half  a  century 
ago.     Philadelphia  is  near  and  dear  to  everj  American  citizen,  as  it 
is  the  birthplace  of  the  greatest  and  most  prosperous  of  nations  in 
the  world.     It  is  here  that,  on  July  t,  1 7 7 * *» ,  the  most  precious  docu- 
ment in  the  possession  of  the  American  people — the  Declaration 
of  [ndependence     was  signed,  road  and  approved  by  the  represent- 
atives of  a  people  who  cared  for  freedom,  liberty  and  independence. 
It  was  here  thai  thesweei  music  of  the  liberty  bell  was  first  heard, 
the  reverberations  of  which  reached  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  which  lias 
continued  and  will  continue  to  echo  and  reecho  Over  OUT  vast  and 
free  country  for  all  time  to  come.       It  is  a  source  of  COngrat  illation 
to  every  and  all  honest,  and  progressive  practitioners  of  medicine 
that  that  document,  which  was  the  means  of  planting  a  \'\-<-<>  gov- 
ernment upon  the  virgin  American  soil  and  creating  a  new  nation, 
was  signed  and  heroically  defended  by  America's  greatest  physi- 
cian—Benjamin Rush.     The  bloody  struggle  for  independence  by 
a  united,  patriotic  people  and  its  great  success  culminated  in  the 
foundation  of  the  great  Republic  of  the  United  States,  which,  in 
time,  gave  the  medical  men  an  opportunity  to  establish  American 
medicine  upon  a  free  American  soil.     It  required  along  time  after 
the  permanency  of  our  government  was  assured  for  our  profes- 
sional  ancestors  to  appreciate  this  opportunity  and   t<»   take  the 
.  necessary  steps  to  secure  adequate  facilities  for  our  young  men  to 
obtain  a   satisfactory   medical  education  in  this  country   and    to 
create  a  medical  literature  of  their  own.    Foreign  textbooks  were 
used  ami    European  universities  continued  to  be  the  Mecca     \'<>v 
American  students  who  sought  a  higher  medical  education.     The 
country  was  new,  its  resources  limited,  its  inhabitants  represented 
different  customs  and  nationalities,  and  the  number  of  qualified 
practitioners  limited.     It  is,  therefore,   not  surprising   that  the 
organization  of  the  profession,  the  establishment  of  institutions  of 
learning  and  the  foundation  of  an  American  medical  literature  met 


432  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

with  many  difficulties,  which  it  required  years  to  correct  aud 
remove.  Philadelphia  has  a  special  charm  for  every  practitioner 
of  medicine  who  has  the  interest  and  welfare  of  his  profession  at 
heart,  as  it  has  been,  and  still  remains,  the  center  of  medical  edu- 
cation and  medical  literature  in  this  country,  besides  being  the 
birthplace  of  the  American  Medical  Association." 

Previous  to  this  event  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  national 
capital  to  celebrate  the  fame  of  another  Philadelphian,  who  must 
always  take  rank  with  Benjamin  Rush,  the  physician,  namely, 
Samuel  Gross,  America's  most  famous  surgeon.  For  the  first  time 
in  American  history  a  statue  of  a  member  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion was  erected  among  those  of  the  patriots,  statesmen  and  war- 
riors whom  the  nation  has  delighted  to  honor.  The  project  was 
carried  to  completion  by  the  Alumni  Association  of  Jefferson  Medi- 
cal College,  of  which  he  was  the  most  distinguished  member,  and 
by  the  American  Surgical  Association,  of  which  he  was  the  founder. 
On  May  5,  1897,  there  was  unveiled,  with  ceremonies  of  a  national 
character,  a  bronze  statue,  nine  feet  high,  mounted  on  a  red  granite 
pedestal  of  a  height  of  eleven  feet,  and  bearing  the  name  "Samuel 
D.  Gross,"  surrounded  by  a  wreath,  underneath  which  is  inscribed: 
"'American  physicians  have  erected  this  statue  to  commemorate 
the  great  deeds  of  a  man  who  made  such  an  impression  upon  Ameri- 
can surgery  that  it  has  served  to  dignify  American  medicine." 

Nearly  a  month  later,  when  President  Senn  delivered  his 
opening  address  at  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Music,  he  made 
an  appeal  for  the  Push  Monument  Fund,  which  has  been  progress- 
ing at  a  snail's  pace  since  it  was  proposed  in  the  National  Associa- 
tion in  188-4,  with  hope  of  unveiling  a  statue  to  Push  at  the  Congress 
of  '87.  "See  to  it,"  said  he,  "that  the  capital  city  will  soon  be 
graced  by  a  magnificent  statue  of  the  idol  of  the  American  pro- 
fession, the  patriot-physician,  and  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors 
of  our  country — Benjamin  Push."  On  Friday,  June  1, 1897,  a  reso- 
lution was  passed  providing  for  the  raising  of  $100,000  for  this  pur- 
pose by  the  American  Medical  Association.  So  when,  in  future 
years,  the  visitor  at  Washington  beholds  the  first  two  statues 
erected  to  American  physicians,  and  reads  the  names — Benjamin 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Rush  and  Samuel  l>.  Gross     lie  maj  realize  the  truth  of  the  wo 

<>f  one  of  the  mosl  fan s  of  Philadelphia's  living  physicians,  the 

poet-novelist:  "Id  new  lands,  peopled  i».\  the  self-selection  of  the 
fittest,  i>\  those  \\  ho  have  the  courage  of  enterprise,  and  the  mental 
and  moral  outfit  to  win  for  ii  success,  the  physician  is  sure  to  take 
and  keep  the  highesl  place,  and  to  find  open  bo  him  more  easily  than 
tool  tiers,  wealth,  social  place  and,  If  he  desires  it,  the  higher  service 
of  the  state.  In  New  England  the  clergy  were  for  a  long  time 
dominant.  In  New  York  then,  as  now,  commercial  success  was 
the  suresl  road  to  social  position.  South  of  us  it.  was  the  land- 
holder who  ruled  with  undisputed  sway.  But  in  this  citj  I  maj 
sny  in  this  state — from  (ho  first  settlement  until  to-day,  the  physi- 
cian lias  held  an  almost  unquestioned  and  somewhat  curious  pre 
eminence."  But  if  that  visitor  were  to  come  hither  ami  become 
familiar  not  only  wit  h  t  he  city's  medical  past,  but  wit  h  the  spirit 
ami  achievements  of  the  present.,  he  would  realize  that    it   is  titl\ 

expressed  in  other  words  from  the  same  pen: 

i 

"A  grander  morning  floods  our  ski<  a 
Wiih  higher  aims,  and  larger  light; 
Give  welcome  to  the  century  new, 
Ami  to  the  past  n  glad  good-night." 


28 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MEDICAL    AND    SURGICAL    APPLIANCES. 

The  earliest  invention  by  a  Philadelphian,  of  which  we  have 
been  able  to  find,  any  record,  was  the  Bond  splint,  invented  by 
Thomas  Bond  (1712-1784),  for  the  treatment  of  fractures  of  the  lower 
end  of  the  radius,  and  still  much  used  for  that  purpose.  He  also 
invented  an  oesophageal  forceps  for  the  extraction  of  foreign  bodies 
from  the  oesophagus. 

Benjamin  Rush  (1745-1813),  in  his  book  on  the  "Diseases  of  the 
Mind,"  describes  his  famous  "tranquillity  chair,"  and  a  less  known 
apparatus  which  he  termed  a  "gyrator."  Dr.  T.  G.  Morton,  in  the 
"History  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,"  gives  an  account  of  these 
two  appliances,  accompanied  by  an  illustration  of  the  "tranquil- 
lizer." The  latter  "was  supposed  to  control  the  impetus  of  the 
blood  toward  the  brain,  and  by  lessening  muscular  action,  or  reduc- 
ing motor  activity,  to  reduce  the  force  and  frequency  of  the  pulse." 
The  "gyrator,"  on  the'  other  hand,  was  designed  for  use  in  "torpid 
madness."  The  head  was  placed  at  the  greatest  distance  from 
the  center  of  motion,  and,  on  revolving  the  "gyrator,"  the  blood, 
by  the  centrifugal  action,  was  caused  to  go  to  the  head  and  accele- 
rate the  action  of  the  heart  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  and  twenty 
beats  in  a  minute. 

Philip  Syng  Physick  (1768-1837,  "the  Father  of  American  Sur- 
gery," invented  many  surgical  instruments  and  appliances.  In  the 
performance  of  his  first  lithotomy  he  divided  the  internal  pudic  ar- 
tery, occasioning  very  alarming  hemorrhage,  which  he  had  much 
difficulty  in  checking.  He  found  that  he  was  unable  to  ligate  the  ar- 
tery with  the  ordinary  means,  without  enclosing  in  the  ligature  a 
quantity  of  surrounding  tissue.  To  overcome  this  difficulty,  under 
similar  circumstances,  he  invented  his  forceps  and  needle,  which 

434 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

were  subsequently  used  in  the  Ligation  of  other  vessels,  as  well 
iIm-  internal  pudic.  In  L795,  he  invented  an  instrument  for  the  per- 
formance of  internal  urethrotomy,  consisting  of  ;i  lancet,  concealed 
in  a  canula.  The  canula  was  to  be  pushed  Mown  to  the  Btricture, 
and  then  the  lancel  \\ ;i s  to  be  thrust  forward  bo  as  to  effect  its 
division.  Alter  i  his  a  catheter  or  bougie  was  to  be  inserted  to  ke<  p 
tin-  opening  pal  nlous. 

in  L796,  he  invented  his  "bougie-pointed  catheter"  under  the 
following  circumstances:  A  case  of  retention  of  urine  was  brought 
to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  Dr.  Physick  found  he  was  urn 
bo  introduce  a  catheter,  and  that  the  introduction  of  a  bougie  was 
not  followed  by  any  flow  of  urine.  He  then  fastened  the  point  of  a 
bougie  upon  the  extremity  of  an  elastic  catheter,  and  this  contriv- 
ance he  succeeded  in  introducing  into  the  bladder,  with  immedi- 
ate relief  to  his  patient. 

In  the  Medical  Repository,  1804,  Vol.  I,  p.  127,  there  is  a  very 
interesting  account  of  the  perform  nice  of  his  celebrated  set  .mi 
operation  for  ununited  fracture.  The  operation  was  performed  on 
December  IS,  1802,  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  The  patient  was 
a  sailor,  28  years  old,  who  had  sustained  a  fracture  of  the  humerus, 
twenty  months  previous  to  the  operation.  Dr.  Physick  says  that 
he  had  himself  been  a  witness  to  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  the 
ordinary  method  of  treatment  of  these  cases,  which  consisted  in 
sawing  off  the  fractured  extremities  of  the  bone,  thus  reducing  the 
part  to  the  condition  of  a  recent  compound  fracture,  and  that  he  had 
consequently  determined  to  treat  this  case  by  an  entirely  different 
plan,  lie  passed  a  silk  seton  between  the  ends  of  the  bone  and  left 
it  there,  with  a  view,  he  says,  "of  exciting  inflammation  and  sup- 
puration until  granulations  should  arise  on  the  ends  of  the  bone, 
which  uniting,  and  afterward  ossifying,  would  form  the  bony  union 
that  was  wanting."  On  the  1th  of  May,  L802,  the  seton  was 
removed,  and  on  the  28th  of  May  the  patient  was  discharged  from 
the  hospital,  "able  to  move  his  arm  in  all  directions  as  well  as 
could  before  the  accident." 

In  Randolph's  memoir  of  Physick.  he  tells  how,  in  L830,  he  was 
attending  a  man  in  a  remitting  fever,     lie  says:   "A  few  days  after 


436  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

my  first  visit,  in  riding  past  his  door  in  company  with  Dr.  Physick, 
feeling  very  uneasy  about  the  condition  of  my  patient,  I  requested 
the  doctor  to  step  into  the  house  and  see  him  with  me  and  give 
me  the  benefit  of  his  advice."  Dr.  Physick  complied  with  his  request, 
and  recognized  in  the  patient  the  man  upon  whom  he  had  first 
passed  a  seton  for  ununited  fracture  of  the  humerus,  twenty-eight 
years  previously.  The  man  died,  and  Eandolph  secured  his 
humerus,  which  showed,  at  the  place  of  fracture,  the  bone  perfectly 
consolidated  by  a  mass  of  callus,  in  the  center  of  which  there  was 
a  hole,  showing  the  place  through  which  the  seton  had  passed. 

In  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Museum,  1805,  Vol.  I,  p.  307, 
Bishop,  the  instrument-maker,  describes  a  modification  of  the  ordi- 
nary curved  bistoury,  which  Dr.  Physick  had  devised  for  use  in  the 
operation  for  fistula  in  ano.  Dr.  Physick  had  the  instrument  made 
with  a  silver  guard  to  prevent  the  edge  from  cutting  any  part  of 
the  sinus  during  its  introduction  into  it.  This  guard  was  detach- 
able, after  it  had  been  introduced,  by  a  very  simple  mechanism,  con- 
sisting of  a  button,  which  was  pressed  forward.  It  thus  combined 
the  advantages  possessed  by  both  the  sharp  and  the  blunt  pointed 
bistoury. 

In  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Museum,  1805,  Vol.  I,  p.  186, 
Bishop  describes  Dr.  Physick's  improved  lithotomy  gorget.  It  was 
made  so  that  the  beak  and  the  blade  were  separable  from  one 
another.  This  permitted  a  fine  edge  to  be  given  to  that  part  of  the 
blade  which  was  contiguous  to  the  beak,  the  object  being  to  facili- 
tate division  of  the  prostatic  gland  and  neck  of  the  bladder.  In 
January,  1809,  Physick  first  performed  his  operation  for  the  cure 
of  artificial  anus,  which  consisted  in  getting  rid  of  the  septum  by 
placing  a  ligature  around  it  for  seven  days,  and  then  establishing 
communication  between  the  two  portions  of  the  bowel  by  an 
incision  with  a  curved  bistoury. 

In  the  Eclectic  Bepertory,  1816,  Vol.  VI,  p.  389,  there  is  a 
letter  from  Dr.  Physick,  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  delay  in  the 
healing  of  wounds  because  of  the  ligatures  in  use.  He  says:  "Sev- 
eral years  ago,  recollecting  how  completely  leather  straps,  spread 
with  adhesive  plaster  and  applied  over  wounds,  for  the  purpose 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

of  keeping  their  Bides  in  contact,  were  dissolved  by  the  Quids  dis- 
charged from  the  wound,  it  occurred  to  me  thai  Ligatures  might 
be  made  of  leather,  or  of  some  other  animal  substance,  with  which 
the  sides  of  a  blood-vessel  could  be  compressed  for  a  sufficient  time 
toprevenl  hemorrhage,  and  thai  such  ligatures  would  be  dissolved 
aftera  few  days  and  would  be  evacuated  with  the  discharge  from 
the  cavity  of  the  wound."  He  requested  Dr.  Dorsey  to  try  such  a 
ligature  on  a  horse,  and  the  resull  justified  his  anticipations.  The 
letter  goes  on  to  say  that,  acting  on  Dr.  Physick's  suggestion,  Dr. 
Hartshorne  had  used  ligatures  made  of  parchment  on  some  of  the 
arteries,  after  an  amputation  of  the  thigh,  and  they  were  found 
dissolved  at  the  firsl  dressing.  Dr.  Dorsey,  with  I>r.  Physick's 
assistance,  used  French  kid  ligatures  with  success  in  several  cj 
Id-  experimented  with  differenl  substances  to  ascertain  which 
would  withstand  the  solvenl  power  of  pus  for  the  longest 
time,  by  applying  the  material  over  the  surfaces  of  ulcers.  Buck- 
skin and  kid  dissolved  first,  then  the  parchment,  lastly  the 
catgut.  Fearing  that  the  leather  might  dissolve  too  soon  in  tying 
large  vessels,  he  intended  to  request  Dr.  Dorsey  to  use  leather,  im- 
pregnated with  the  varnish  used  in  making  elastic  catheters.  In 
his  letter  he  makes  the  suggestion  that  perhaps  tendon  would  be 
found  more  durable  than  any  of  the  materials  above  mentioned. 

In  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  L828,  VoL  I. 
]».  262,  Physick  describes  his  tonsillotomy.  This  instrument  he 
first  had  made  with  a  view  of  amputating  the  uvula  in  a  particular 
case,  bin  its  success  for  that  purpose  led  him  to  apply  the  sa 
principles  to  the  construction  of  an  instrument  for  the  removal  of 
rhe  tonsils,  lie  acknowledges  that  the  primal  idea  of  his  instru- 
ment was  derived  from  Bell's  instrument  for  the  amputation  of  1 
uvula,  Physick's  instrument  was  composed  of  a  straight,  flat  piece 
of  steel,  with  an  oval  opening  in  its  distal  extremity,  which  was 
designed  to  receive  the  tonsil.  To  the  plate,  there  was  attached  ;i 
knife,  fitted  in  lateral  grooves,  which  could  be  pushed  forward  after 
the  tonsil  had  been  tilted  into  the  opening  in  the  plate,  and  would 
then  amputate  the  projecting  part,  Physick  also  used  an  original 
form  of  toothed  forceps  to  draw  the  tonsil  from  its  bed.  Randolph 


438  HISTORY  OF  .-MEDICINE 

attributes  to  Physick  the  improvement  in  the  treatment  of  coxalgia, 
by  a  curved  splint,  combined  with  absolute  rest. 

Dr.  Physick  has  often  had  ascribed  to  him  the  credit  of  being 
the  first  to  suggest  washing  out  the  stomach  in  cases  where  poisons 
had  been  swallowed.  In  the  Eclectic  Kepertory  for  October,  1812, 
he  published  an  account  of  this  method,  as  he  had  employed  it  in 
the  treatment  of  two  children  suffering  from  laudanum  poisoning, 
and  he  there  stated  that  it  was  original  with  him,  but  in  a  subse- 
quent communication  to  the  same  journal  he  acknowledged  that 
the  invention  of  this  method  of  treatment  belonged  to  Dr.  Alex- 
ander Munro,  Jr.,  of  Edinburgh,  who  published  an  account  of  it  in 
his  inaugural  thesis  in  1797.  Doctor  Physick  states  that  he  was 
ignorant  of  Dr.  Munro's  priority  of  invention  until  he,  since  his  first 
communication  to  the  Eclectic  Repertory,  had  received  a  copy  of 
Munro's  Anatomy,  in  which  it  was  mentioned.  Physick  was.  how- 
ever, the  first  to  actually  put  this  treatment  in  practice. 

Physick  modified  Desault's  apparatus  for  the  treatment  of  frac- 
ture of  the  femur  by  carrying  the  outer  splint  all  the  way  up  to  the 
axilla,  thus  securing  counter-extension  more  in  the  line  of  the  body, 
and  preventing  lateral  inclination  of  the  pelvis. 

Dr.  James  Hutchinson  (1752-1793)  modified  Physick's  modifica- 
tion of  Desault's  apparatus  still  further  by  attaching  a  block  to  the 
splint,  which  enabled  extension  to  be  kept  up,  and  by  securing  the 
splints  with  tapes,  enabled  the  part  to  be  seen  without  the  labor 
necessary  in  the  removal  of  the  eighteen-tailed  bandage,  which  had 
formerly  been  used  to  retain  the  splints  in  position. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hartshorne  (1779-1850)  invented  an  apparatus  for 
the  treatment  of  fractured  patella,  consisting  of  a  tin  splint,  with 
straps  and  buckles  to  go  above  and  below  the  fragments,  and  secure 
them  in  apposition. 

He  also  devised  a  method  for  the  treatment  of  fractures  of 
the  femur,  in  which  counter-extension  is  made  against  the 
perineum  at  the  upper  end  of  the  inside  splint,  and  extension  is 
made  by  a  movable  footboard,  worked  with  a  screw.  By  this 
arrangement  the  outer  splint  could  be  detached  from  the  inner  one 
without  disturbing  the  extending  or  the  counter-extending  force. 


I\  PHILADELPHIA.  139 

Dr.  Joseph  Parrfsh  (1779-1840)  invented  an  aneurismal  needle, 
consisting  of  ;i  handle  and  stem,  and  a  number  of  needles  of  differ- 
en1  curves,  eacb  having  an  eye  near  the  extremity,  and  which  could 
be  secured  or  detached  from  the  stem  of  the  instrument. 

In  l  si  hi,  he  firsl  conceived  the  idea  of  treating  epididymitis  b} 
firm  pressure,  evenly  applied.  He  accomplished  this  by  means  of 
a  narrow  roller. 

John  Syng  Dorsey  (1783-1818)  was  the  inventor  of  a  splint  for 
the  treatment  of  fractured  patella.  It  was  made  of  wood,  and 
extended  from  the  tuberosity  of  the  ischium  to  the  heel.  Attached 
to  it  were  strips  of  muslin  to  go  above  and  below  the  fragments, 
which  could  be  brought  together  by  tying  the  strips. 

William  Gibson  (1788-1868)  was  the  firsl  to  introduce  the  use 

oi  the  inclined  plane  for  the  purpose  of  making  counter-extension 

in  the  treatmenl  of  fractures  of  the  femur.     He  modified   Hage- 

dorn's  apparatus  for  the  treatment  of  this  condition,  extending 

the  two  splints  on  the  outside  of  the  thighs  up  to  the  axillae. 

'  He  invented  the  Gibson  head  bandage  for  the  treatmenl  of 

fractures  of  the  jaw. 
\         Charles  Delucena  Meigs  (1792-1869)  invented  n  much-used  form 

of  ring  pessary. 

John  Rhea  Barton  (1796-1871)  originated  the  bran  dressing 
for  fractures  of  the  lower  extremity.  It  was  applied  by  placing  a 
mackintosh  over  the  bottom  and  sides  of  an  ordinary  fracture  box. 
In  the  bottom  of  1  ho  box  a  Layer  of  bran  was  spread,  on  which  the 
limb  was  placed  after  the  reduction  of  the  fracture.  The  remaining 
space  in  the  box  was  then  filled  in  with  more  bran. 

He  was  Hie  first  to  attempt  to  connect  the  fragments  in  a  case 
of  fractured  patella,  by  silver  wire.  The  patient,  however,  did  no1 
survive  long  after  the  operation,  lie  invented  the  bandage  for  the 
head  which  bears  his  inline;  likewise  the  Barton  handkerchief 
bandage  for  making  extension  in  fracture  of  the  lowTer  limb. 

William  E.  Borner  (1793-1853)  invented  an  instrument  which 
he  termed  an  awl,  for  passing  ligatures  around  deep-seated  vessels. 
lie  modified  Desault's  apparatus  for  fractured  femur,  by  substi- 
tuting padded  splints  for  the  plain  splints  with  junk  bags,  and  by 


440  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

attaching  the  counter-extending  band  to  the  upper  end  of  both 
splints. 

Hugh  Lenox  Hodge  (1796-1873)  also  used  a  modification  of 
Desault's  apparatus  for  the  treatment  of  fractures  of  the  femur, 
which  consisted  in  doing  away  with  a  counter-extending  band  alto- 
gether, and  using  instead  a  long  outside  splint,  with  an  iron  hook, 
extending  over  the  top  of  the  patient's  head,  at  its  upper  extremity. 
He  placed  adhesive  strips  across  the  patient's  chest  and  then  con- 
nected them  with  the  hook  by  a  longitudinal  strip,  thus  making 
counter-extension. 

He  invented  a  lever  pessary,  also  an  obstetric  forceps. 

S.  D.  Gross  (1805-1881)  was  the  inventor  of  many  ingenious 
devices.  Probably  the  most  important  of  them  was  his  horseshoe 
tourniquet,  by  which  pressure  could  be  exerted  over  directly 
opposite  points  on  a  limb.  In  the  treatment  of  fracture  of  the 
femur  he  used  a  long  fracture  box,  with  a  fenestrated  footpiece, 
and  with  two  crutches,  one  for  the  perineum  and  one  for  the  axilla, 
attached  to  its  two  outer  sides. 

For  the  treatment  of  fractures  at  the  condyles  of  the  humerus 
he  devised  a  tin  case,  extending  from  the  axilla  to  the  metacarpo- 
phalangeal articulations.  He  also  originated  a  tin  splint  for  use  in 
fractures  of  the  tibia.  A  very  useful  invention  of  his  was  a  foreign 
body  extractor,  for  use  in  the  ear  and  nose.  Dr.  Gross  designed  an 
apparatus  for  the  transfusion  of  blood,  which  is  very  largely  used. 
He  was  also  the  inventor  of  a  bullet  probe,  a  blood  catheter, 
tracheal  forceps,  an  artery  forceps,  urethrotome  and  a  fenestrated 
forceps,  for  use  in  the  operation  for  artificial  anus. 

Dr.  Joseph  Pancoast  (1805-1882)  was  the  first  to  use  pins  sub- 
cutaneously  to  unite  the  fragments  in  ununited  fracture.  His 
apparatus  for  the  treatment  of  coxalgia  was  simple  in  design  and 
of  great  service. 

Dr.  George  Fox  (1806-1882)  was  the  inventor  of  the  apparatus 
for  the  treatment  of  fractured  clavicle  which  goes  by  his  name. 
It  consisted  of  a  wedge-shaped  pad,  to  fill  in  the  axilla,  with  tapes 
attached  to  each  angle;  a  ring  made  of  muslin  stuffed  with  hair, 
to  encircle  the  arm  at  the  shoulder,  and  a  broad  sling.     The  ring 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  Ill 

w  us  slipped  over  the  arm  of  the  sound  side,  ;ui<l  the  pad  placed  in 
the  axilla  of  the  injured  side,  and  maintained  in  position  by  tying 
the  tapes  to  the  ring.  The  arm  was  then  placed  in  the  sling,  the 
wrist  suspended  to  the  ring  by  the  front  tapes,  and  the  elbow  car- 
ried upward  and  backward  and  secured  i<»  the  ring  by  the  ta]  - 
attached  to  the  u ) »i »<  i-  and  lower  parts  of  the  posterior  portion  of 
the  sling. 

Dr.  Henry   Horner  Smith  (1815-1890)  invented  an  appars 
for  the  treatmenl  of  ununited  fractures  of  the  lower  extremity,  by 
means  of  which  the  ends  of  the  bone  al  the  point  of  fracture  v 
kept  in  a  position  which  caused  them  i<»  rub  against  one  anoth<  r, 
whilsl  the  bone  was  kept  in  correct  position. 

Dr.  D.  I  hives  Agnew  (1818-1892)  devised  a  well-known  splint 
for  fractured  patella.  It  was  made  of  board,  about  thirty  inches 
long,  somewhat  convex  on  its  upper  surface,  in  its  long  axis.  <  >n 
each  side,  a  short  distance  above  and  below  the  middle,  there  were 

placed  w len  pegs.    Overlapping  adhesive  strips    were    placed 

above  and  below  the  injured  bone  and  attached  to  the  screws.  Winn 
the  latter  were  rotated  they  tightened  the  strips  and  brought  the 
fragments  together.  Agnew's  apparatus  for  the  immobilization  of 
the  hip-joint,  while  permitting  locomotion,  1ms  been  much  used. 
He  devised  anterior  and  Internal  angular  splints  for  the  treatment 
of  fractures  of  the  humerus.  He  also  invented  a  retractor  for  hold- 
ing aside  the  peritoneum  during  operations  on  the  iliac  arteries;  a 
mackerel-billed  forceps  for  dividing  the  pedicle  of  a  uterine  polyp; 
a  flexible  spiral  wire  probe;  a  blood  catheter;  a  urethral  dilator, 
with  three  blades,  for  use  in  the  female  urethra;  a  toothed  art 
forceps;  an  intercostal  artery  compressor,  and  the  special  instru- 
ments required  for  use  in  his  operation  for  the  radical  cure  of 
hernia. 

Dr.  John  Xeill  i  L819-1880)  invented  an  apparatus  for  the  tr 
menl  of  factures  of  the  leg,  consisting  of  a  long  fracture  box,  in 
which  the  leg  was  placed,  and  extension  and  counter-extension 
applied  by  adhesive  strips  attached  to  the  upper  and  lower  por- 
tions of  the  leg,  and  connected  to  corresponding  parts  of  the  box. 
He  also  modified   Desault's  splint   for  fracture  of  the  femur,  by 


44-2  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

attaching  a  double  cord  to  the  extending  and  counter-extending 
bands,  and  bringing  the  ends  over  the  upper  and  lower  extremities 
of  the  outside  splint,  so  that  extension  and  counter-extension  could 
be  made  simultaneously  by  twisting  the  rope. 

Dr  James  J.  Leviek  (1824-1893)  originated  the  treatment   of 
sunstroke  by  rubbing  the  patient  with  ice. 

Dr.  Richard  J.  Levis  (1827-1890)  invented  a  wire  loop  for  the 
withdrawal  of  the  lens  in  cataract  operations;  a  notched  director 
for  the  division  of  the  constricting  baud  of  a  hernia;  a  phimosis  for- 
ceps, and  an  apparatus  for  the  treatment  of  fractured  patella, 
which  consisted  in  a  splint  to  go  behind  the  knee,  a  baud  to  cross 
the  limb  above  the  upper  fragment,  and  a  strap  passing  down  from 
this  band  to  a  stirrup,  which  was  placed  under  the  foot.  He  also 
modified  Malgaigne's  hooks  by  dividing  them  into  two  halves, 
longitudinally,  and  then  introducing  the  hooks  some  distance  apart. 
lie  likewise  invented  an  apparatus  for  producing  extension  in  frac- 
ture of  the  femur;  a  metallic  splint  for  fractures  of  the  lower  end 
of  the  radius,  and  a  tractor  for  the  reduction  of  dislocations  of  the 
digits.  The  latter  consisted  of  a  piece  of  wood,  about  eight  inches 
long  and  somewhat  wider  than  the  fingers  or  thumb.  A  row  of 
perforations  ran  down  on  each  side  of  the  piece  of  wood.  The  dis- 
located member  is  laid  on  the  wood,  tapes  are  passed  over  it  and 
through  the  perforations,  and  wound  tight  to  the  tailpiece  of  the 
board,  and  the  instrument,  when  thus  adjusted,  is  capable  of  exert- 
ing powerful  traction  if  pulled. 

Dr.  Addinell  Hewson  (1828-1889)  was  the  inventor  of  a  torsion 
forceps,  which  consisted  of  two  sets  of  blades,  one  set  broad  and  tlat 
for  seizing  and  drawing  out  the  artery,  the  other  much  smaller, 
duckbill-shaped,  or  curved  at  the  point,  and  designed  for  dividing 
the  coats  of  the  vessel.  The  torsion  was  applied  by  rotating  the  for- 
ceps on  its  axis.  He  also  originated  the  method  of  treating  wounds 
with  earth,  and  invented  a  fracture  bed. 

Of  other  Philadelphia  surgeons  who  have  invented  instru- 
ments we  may  mention:  Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  who  invented  a  cataract 
knife;  Dr.  S.  W.  Gross,  who  invented  a  coiled  silver  prostatic 
catheter,  an  urethral  dilator  and  an  urethrotome:  Dr.  John  Ash- 


l\  PHILADELPHIA.  143 

hurst,  Jr.,  who  invented  ;i  bracketed  wire  splinl  for  use  after 
cision  of  the  knee,  ;ui<l  Dr.  'i'.  <!.  Morton,  who,  in  ls,'>'i   designed  ;i 
hospital   ward  dressing  carriage,  which  received  ;t   certificate  <>f 
award  from  iIh-  IT.  8.  Centennial  CommissioB  in  L876.     Il<-  is  i    - 
the  originator  of  a  method  of  bringing  together  the  fragments  of  a 
fractured  patella,  with  ;i  drill,  which  is  passed  through  the  fi    - 
ments  mid  then  close  apposition  is  maintained  by  a  out  which  is 
run  » I < - w  ii  one  end  of  i  he  drill. 

I  >r.  -John  II.  Packard  firsl  called  attention  to  the  value  «>f  die 
stage  of  primary  etherization  in  the  performance  of  minor  opera- 
tions. Be  also  devised  a  bracketed  splinl  for  ase  in  compound 
fractures  of  the  femur.  Dr.  Oscar  II.  Allis  invented  the  ether 
inhaler  which  goes  by  his  name;  also  a  bistoury  for  division  of 
the  constricting  band  of  a  hernia.  Dr.  John  B.  Robei'ts  is  the  origi- 
nator of  the  treatmenl  of  Ira ci ures  of  the  nasal  bones  l>y  means  of 
pins.  Dr.  W.  15.  Eopkins  has  introduced  a  modification  of  Char- 
riere's  artery  compressor,  by  increasing  the  number  of  points  by 
which  the  pressure  is  exerted;  also  a  very  useful  gouge  forceps,  for 
use  in  trephining,  and  a  vertebrated  saw  for  the  removal  of  plaster 
bandages. 

Among  the  surgical  appliances  invented  by  Philadelphiana 
should  also  be  named  BonwilFs  surgical  engine,  especially  <>f 
service  in  dentistry,  hut  also  capable  of  application  in  many  sur- 
gical operations.  Kolbe  and  Osborne's  orthopedic  appliances  are 
of  national  fame.  Gemrig  and  the  tirm  of  Lentz  and  Sons  have 
added  many  valuable  instruments  to  the  surgeon's  armamentarium. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    PUBLIC    MEDICAL    LIBRARIES    OF     PHILADELPHIA. 

The  appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  public  medical  library  by 
the  profession  itself  is  measured  by  the  character  and  scope  of  the 
works  contained  in  it,  and  by  its  accessibility  to  readers  and 
inquirers  after  information.  So  it  happens  in  Philadelphia  that, 
although  there  are  three  medical,  libraries  which  deserve  considera- 
tion as  available  for  professional  use  and  consultation,  only  one 
is  generally  referred  to  when  mention  is  made  of  public  libraries — 
the  Library  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia;  those  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  and  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  being 
more  restricted  in  their  use,  and  less  accessible,  on  account  of  tbe 
more  private  character  of  the  hospital  regulations  as  to  hours  and 
the  provisions  by  which  they  are  governed. 

The  Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  antedates  the  other 
two,  having  had  its  origin  in  the  colonial  period  of  American  his- 
tory, while  that  of  the  College  of  Physicians  was  first  spoken  of  as 
a  possible  creation  nearly  twelve  years  after  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  and  that  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital  seventeen 
years  later.  As  a  matter  of  historical  record,  therefore,  it  becomes 
our  duty,  in  chronicling  the  rise  and  progress  of  public  medical 
libraries  in  Philadelphia,  to  give  precedence  of  mention  to  the  one 
which  was  established  at  the  earliest  date,  even  though  it  has  not 
risen  to  the  first  rank  in  prominence,  either  for  purposes  of  consul- 
tation or  in  practical  usefulness  to  the  medical  profession  of  this 
city  and  vicinity. 

It  has  frequently  been  a  matter  of  discussion  and  considera- 
tion among  the  thinking  members  of  the  profession  in  Philadelphia 
whether  it  would  be  possible,  at  any  time,  to  consolidate  the  two 
libraries,  inasmuch  as  their  catalogues,  when  compared  a  few  years 

444 


1  \  PHIL  SM.l.l  III  \.  II.-, 

siii<-<-  ii\  a  careful  observer,  exhibited  a  remarkable  absence  "f 
duplication  of  titles  of  books;  bu1  ao  such  actios  has  ever  been 
attempted,  even  if  ever  seriously  contemplated. 

In  addil ion  to  the  i lieal  libraries  already  mentioned,  there 

is  a  i>.\  no  means  insignificanl  collection  of  medical  works  of  great 
value  scattered  through  the  shelves  of  the  great  general  libraries 
of  Philadelphia,  as  the  Philadelphia  Librarj  and  the  Mercantile 
Library.  The  former,  in  its  main  building  and  in  its  Loganian 
branch,  contains  several  thousand  volumes  of  valuable  old  medical 
works  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  Et 
is  great  Iv  to  be  regretted  thai  such  gems  as  some  of  these  undoubt- 
edly in  1 1 si  in-,  or,  a  i  any  rate,  such  works  of  intrinsic  value  as  many 
of  them  are,  should  be  buried,  or  at  least  hidden,  almost,  beyond 
the  contemplation,  if  not  the  search,  of  the  medical  reader.  Several 
of  the  medical  societies  of  Philadelphia  have  accumulated  a  num- 
ber of  books,  periodicals  and  pamphlets  for  reference  and  the  use 
of  their  members,  but  none  of  them  have  as  yet  risen  to  t  he  dignitj 
and  importance  of  distinct  medical  libraries,  deserving  detailed 
description  in  an  account  of  the  public  medical  libraries  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

/.  —  The  Medical  Library  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital. 

The  foundation  of  this  library  was  laid  in  the  year  lTti:.',  four- 
teen years  before  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  [independence, 
and  eleven  years  after  that  of  the  hospital  itself,  in  the  presenta- 
tion by  Dr.  John  Pothergill  of  a  work  on  "Materia.  Medica,"  by 
William  Lewis,  F.  R.  S.,  through  Mr.  William  Logan,  a  manager  of 
the  institution,  while  on  a  visit  to  Europe.  It  was  expressly  stated 
that  this  volume  was  presented  "for  the  benefit  of  the  young  stu- 
dents in  physic  who  may  attend  under  the  direction  of  the  physi- 
cians." The  same  donor  shortly  afterward  gave  to  the  hospital  a 
variety  of  models,  anatomical  and  other  pictures,  etc.,  valued  at 
about  $350,  which  were  placed  at  Professor  Shippen's  service  in 
his  course  on  Anatomy. 

Soon  after  this,  that  is,  in  17<>:',  pecuniary  considerations,  look- 
ing toward  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  library,  were 
entertained  and  adopted.    At   thai   time  there  were  no  resident 


446  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

physicians,  so-called,  their  duties  being  performed  by  apprentices, 
and  these,  in  consideration  of  their  services  to  the  hospital,  were 
exempted  from  paying  the  fee  required  of  all  medical  students 
attending  there,  by  resolution  then  adopted  bj  the  managers. 
This  fee  was  six  pistoles,  a  sum  fixed  and  suggested  by  the  attend- 
ing physicians  of  the  hospital,  and  by  them  recommended  to  be 
used  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  a  future  medical  library,  instead 
of  being  given  to  the  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  hospital,  as 
was  then  the  custom  in  Great  Britain. 

Inaugurated  in  this  way,  by  unselfish  relinquishment  of  fees 
to  which  these  physicians  were  fairly  entitled,  according  to  the 
usages  of  those  times,  the  library  soon  began  to  grow,  receiving 
gifts  of  books  from  friends  at  home  and  abroad;  among  the 
noteworthy  ones  from  the  latter  source  being  two  large  volumes 
on  Materia  Medica,  forwarded  by  Benjamin  Franklin  in  October, 
1770.  The  only  other  works  added  in  any  quantity  to  the  library 
prior  to  the  Revolution  are  entered  upon  the  hospital's  books  as 
received  at  the  end  of  1774,  from  England,  as  "a  trunk  of  books," 
which,  it  is  presumed,  were  presented  to  the  library  as  the  results 
of  a  direct  appeal  to  friends  in  England,  on  behalf  of  the  young 
medical  students  attending  lectures  in  Philadelphia  from  "the 
neighboring  provinces,"  to  whom  such  works  were  not  otherwise 
accessible. 

Then  came  the  momentous  struggle  of  the  Revolution,  during 
which  both  hospital  and  library  had  a  hard  battle  for  existence, 
in  the  depreciation  of  the  currency  and  in  the  turmoil  and  military 
occupation  and  movements  of  those  agitating  times.  For  fourteen 
years  the  books  added  to  the  library  did  not  average  one  a  year, 
and  only  one  pamphlet  was  received  in  all  those  years.  To  show 
how  great  was  the  depression  of  the  currency  at  that  time,  one 
volume,  purchased  in  1780,  which,  in  ordinary  times,  would  have 
cost  one  pound  fifteen  shillings  in  gold,  was  purchased  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  pounds  five  shillings,  which  was  equiva- 
lent to  the  same  amount. 

The  first  systematic  catalogue  of  the  library  was  prepared 
under  the  supervision  of  several  prominent  medical  men,  and  issued 


I\   PHILADELPHIA.  Ni 

in  1 7'. hi,  .1  Ik  I  contained  the  titles  of  528  works.  The  apot  becary  of 
the  hospital  was  the  librarian  a1  this  time,  acting  under  rules 
adopted  in  the  latter  part  of  L789.  Another  catalogue  was  prepared 
and  issued  in  L795.  in  the  meantime  books  had  been  purchased  for 
the  library  in  Great  Britain,  and  ;i  nnmber  of  others  had  been  re- 
ceived from  friends  in  thai  part  of  the  world  .-is  donations,  notably 
from  Dr.  J.  C.  Lettsom.  Strict  rules  as  to  Loaning  books,  and  in 
regard  to  the  return  of  missing  volumes,  were  adopted  at  this 
time,  with  something  more  direel  than  ;i  hint  that  the  apprentices 
or  residents  were  responsible  for  tin*  loss  of  a  number  of  books 
missing  from  the  library,  for  which  they  were  called  upon  i<»  pay 
before  relinquishing  their  services  ;ii  the  hospital. 

In  the  year  L800  the  library,  having  grown  beyond  tin-  capacity 
of  a  few  bookcases,  was  removed  to  a  room  of  its  own,  <>n  the  first 
floor,  which  it  occupied  for  forty-seven  years,  when  the  large  new 
room,  specially  arranged  for  it,  on  the  sec. mi  floor,  was  opened  us 
its  future  home,  which,  for  half  a  cent  ury,  I  he  library  has  occupied. 

A  donation  of  l  \-2  volumes,  from  Sarah  Zane,  in  the  first  year 
of  this  century,  is  interesting,  as  probably  exhibiting  the  style,  or 
rather  the  dimensions,  of  hooks  at  earlier  periods,  it'  we  may 
accept  these  us  indicative  of  the  characteristic  literature  of  two  or 
three  centuries  previous,  when  quartos  and  folios  Largely  predomi- 
nated, us  they  <lhl  in  this  collection. 

The  transference  of  the  care  of  the  library,  in  succession,  from 
one  apprentice  to  anot  her — for  the  apprentices  were  for  a  series  of 
years  the  act  ing  librarians — was  quite  a  formal  affair.  The  appren- 
i  ices,  (»n  assuming  these  duties,  were  obliged  to  give  a  receipt  tor  all 
the  books  in  the  library,  to  note  the  names  of  .ill  the  missing  vol- 
umes, which  were  charged  to  the  previous  occupant  of  the  position, 
and  the  Library  itself  was  even  closed,  ami  the  hooks,  when  not 
returned,  were  advertised  in  the  newspapers  of  the  day.  and  lists 
sent  around  to  nil  the  medical  men  of  the  city,  in  the  hope  of  secur- 
ing the  stray  volumes.  Such  were  the  rather  primitive  methods 
of  those  days;  hut  Philadelphia  was  then  compact  ami  not  wide- 
spread, ami  its  corps  of  physicians  could  readily  be  counted  on  one's 
fingers  and  could   he  easily  reached   hy  appeal   or  direct    applica- 


44S  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

tion.  As  many  as  fifty  volumes  were  at  one  time  found  to  be  miss- 
ing from  the  shelves,  when  the  incoming  apprentice-librarian  and 
the  two  managers,  who  superintended  the  transfer,  met  to  make  the 
formal  arrangements  for  the  care  of  the  library.  The  duties  of  the 
apprentices — especially  the  outgoing  librarian — did  not,  therefore, 
rest  upon  a  bed  of  roses,  and  a  sense  of  future  responsibility  must 
have  been  ever  present  in  the  minds  of  the  continuous  line  of 
apprentices  who  successively  assumed  the  duties  of  book-custodi- 
ans, while  others  were  acting  as  unauthorized  book-keepers.  But, 
perhaps,  the  acting  librarian  had  some  solace  from  the  fact  that 
other  labors  were  simultaneously  imposed  upon  him,  for  even  while 
having  the  books  under  his  watchful  care  he  was  expected  to 
bleed,  cup  and  leech,  when  it  was  necessary  to  employ  such  treat- 
ment, to  dress  wounds  and  assist  in  the  treatment  of  fractures. 

The  minutes  of  the  hospital  give  interesting  particulars  of  the 
inner  life  of  these  hard-worked  and  thoroughly-occupied  young 
gentlemen  of  those  days,  the  medical  representatives  of  the  appren- 
ticeship system,  then,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  in  vogue. 
Although  not  strictly  relative  to  the  subject  in  hand — the  library 
proper — it  may  not  be  considered  inappropriate  at  this  point  to 
state  the  terms  under  which  these  apprentices — the  acting-libra- 
rians— were  admitted  to  the  privileges  and  the  labors  of  the  hospi- 
tal. The  minutes  state  that  each  apprentice  was  to  bring  with  him  a 
single  feather  bed,  which  he  was  to  leave  in  the  house;  he  was  to 
serve  five  years;  give  ample  security  to  pay  at  the  rate  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum  for  every  day  that  he  was  absent  from  his 
duties  without  leave  from  the  managers;  he  was  to  fill  up  his  time 
in  study;  to  look  for  no  indulgence  by  leave  to  attend  parties  of 
pleasure  or  places  of  amusement,  nor  to  be  abroad  in  the  evening, 
nor  to  receive  visits  at  home.  The  managers  allowed  him  to  attend 
two  courses  of  medical  lectures,  selected  by  themselves,  and  it  was 
made  his  duty  to  return  home  to  the  hospital  as  soon  as  each  lec- 
ture was  over.  Those  who  were  able  to  follow  faithfully  this  severe 
course  of  discipline  to  the  end,  doubtless  realized  at  its  conclusion 
some  personal  gratification  in  the  review  of  the  benefits  that  had 
accrued  to  them,  but  there  must  have  been  a  marked  degree  of 


I  \   PHILADELPHIA. 

personal  satisfaction  when  the  long  looked-for  day  of  liberty   i 
ema  ncipa  i  i < •  ■  i  m  lasl  ;i  rri  red. 

Willi  the  exception  of  tin-  printing  of  the  first  pari  of  ;i  u 
catalogue  of  the  library,  in    L806,  i>.\    Zaceheus  Collins,   Etichard 
WJstar,  Dr.  Thomas  Parke,  and,  particularly,   Dr.  Joseph   [Iai 

home,  then  an  apprentice  in  the  hospital  (the  sec I  pari   b< 

prepared  twelve  years  later),  there  was  bul   little  increj 
(ibrairj   until  1816,  when  nearly  three  thousand  dollars  were 
pended  in  the  purchase  of  books  on  Natural  History  and  Bot< 
thai  had  formed  pari  of  the  library  of  the  late  Dr.  Benjamin  Smith 
Barton,  and  nearly  two  thousand  dollars  were  spenl  in  the  impoi 
I  ion  of  books  from  Europe. 

The  library  was  now  developing  into  numerical  ;ui«l  scientific 
importance,  and  the  medical  profession  of  the  growing  city  was  also 
assuming  larger  proportions,  and  probably  becoming  more  appre- 
ciative of  its  value  as  a  means  of  reference.  Drs.  James  and  Elewson 
were  requested,  in  L822,  by  the  managers  of  the  hospital,  to  acl  in 
conjunction  with  a  "committee  to  have  charge  of  the  library" 
the  first  ever  appointed — in  looking  after  iis  interests.  In  March, 
1824,  Mr.  William  <!.  Malin  was  appointed  clerk  of  the  hospital 
and  Librarian,  remaining  as  such  for  sixteen  years,  when  he  became 
steward.  In  L829  he  prepared  a  now  catalogue,  showing  a  total  of 
5,828  volumes  in  the  library;  a  supplemenl  to  which  was  issued  in 
1836.  A  "Sketch  of  the  Bistory  of  the  Medical  Library,"  by  the 
librarian,  was  published  with  the  catalogue  in  L829.  Other  items 
of  interest,  during  the  nexl  few  years,  were  the  sale  of  certain 
works  on  Comparative  Anatomy  and  Na1  ural  I  Eistory  to  the  South 
Sea  Surveying  and  Exploring  Expedition  senl  oul  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  L837  volumes  that  could  be  readily  imported  from  Europe 
by  the  library;  and,  in  1S41,  a  slight  depletion  in  the  removal  of 
works  treating  of  the  Mind  and  Mental  Diseases,  and  others,  <»t'  a 
general  literary  character,  to  the  new  BospitaJ  for  ili«'  Insane  in 
West  Philadelphia,  a  branch  of  the  Pennsylvania  Bospital. 

The  library  had  become  crowded  by  the  year  1M7.  and  en- 
croached <»ii  the  apothecary  shop  and  hull,  so  thai  ii  became  n< 
sary  to  construct   n  now  library-room  «'ii  the  second   floor  of  the 

29 


450  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

hospital,  and  here  it  has  ever  since  remained,  the  ward  for  females 
being  removed  and  the  room  altered,  to  be  devoted  to  this  object. 
Five  years  later,  that  is,  in  1852,  Mr.  George  Orel,  of  Philadel- 
phia presented  more  than  a  hundred  volumes  of  great  interest  to 
medical  ami  scientific  men.  In  1855  Dr.  Emil  Fischer  prepared  a 
new  catalogue  of  750  pages,  which  received  a  supplement  twelve 
years  later,  at  the  hands  of  August  F.  Muller,  then  librarian. 

A  charge  of  three  dollars  a  year  for  the  use  of  the  library  was 
made  in  1867,  by  resolution  of  the  managers,  and  of  twenty-five 
dollars  for  the  life-use  of  the  same  and  for  attendance  on  the  medi- 
cal and  surgical  practice  of  the  house. 

The  interesting  and  valuable  work,  "The  History  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital,  1751-1895,"  prepared  by  Drs.  Thomas  G.  Mor- 
ton and  Frank  Woodbury,  states  that  the  additions  to  the  library 
of  the  hospital  to  1893  bring  up  the  aggregate  number  of  volumes 
to  11,892. 

At  this  present  date  (October,  1897)  the  hospital  library  con- 
tains 405  folios,  1,871  quartos,  11,206  octavos  and  1,181  duodecimos, 
a  total  of  11,966  volumes;  but  such  a  classification  is  rather  fanci- 
ful in  these  later  days,  when  many  of  the  duodecimo  volumes 
are  with  difficulty  distinguished  from  small  octavos.  There  has 
not  been  any  regularly  appointed  librarian  in  recent  years,  the 
clerk  performing  that  duty. 

77".  —  The  Library  of  the   College  of  Physicians   of  Philadelphia. 

When  the  College  of  Physicians  was  founded,  thirteen  years 
before  the  expiration  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  was  no  men- 
tion on  the  minutes  of  the  prospective  library,  which  in  after  years 
was  to  be,  perhaps,  its  chief  adornment.  In  the  spring  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  by-laws  were  proposed,  a  section  of  which  contained, 
as  a  heading,  the  word  "Library,"  without  any  additional  words  to 
give  it  vitality.  The  library  was  not  then  even  in  an  embryonic 
state;  it.  was  only  a  possibility  of  the  future,  for  which  the  worthy 
founders  of  the  college  thought  it  scarcely  necessary,  in  its  total 
absence,  to  make  provision. 

About  half  the  medical  profession  in  Philadelphia  were  found- 
ers or  fellows  in  the  first  year  of  the  existence  of  the  college;  but 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  I". I 

then  the  whole  number  of  medical  men  in  the  city  ;ii  thai  time 
was  scarcely  more  than  fifty.  The  besl  portions  of  Philadelphia  at 
thai  period  of  its  history,  ;is  to  respectability  of  the  population  and 
desirability  of  residence,  were  those  situated  low  down,  in  the 
vi<  iniiv  of  the  Delaware  River.  Fifth  streel  seemed  to  he  almost 
the  western  limit,  for  only  one  of  tin-  fellows  lived  beyond  it,  and 
almost  nil  the  others  were  residents  of  Water,  Front  and  Second 
st  !■(•(■  ts.  The  early  fellows  and  founders  were  apparently  i  h<-  cream 
of  the  profession,  being  the  leading  teachers  and  practitioners  of 
the  city,  a  number  of  whom  were  already  distinguished,  ;m<l  their 
names  have  been  handed  down  t<»  us  for  preservation  of  their  en- 
during  reputation.  The  University  <>r  Pennsylvania  was  then  in 
Fourth  strcci,  below  Arch,  and  here  the  College  of  Physicians  held 
its  meetings  and  laid  the  foundation,  in  L788,  for  its  future  library. 

In  .June,  L788,  and  at  almost  every  meeting  thereafter,  to  the 
end  of  17s(.»,  the  library  occupied  the  attention  of  the  fellows  of  the 
college,  and  particularly  of  a  committee  of  three,  appointed  to 
report  upon  its  organization  and  formation.  These  were  Drs.  John 
Jones,  Samuel  Powel  Griffitts  and  Caspar  Wistar.  Alter  the  usual 
appeal  for  donations  of  hooks,  which  seems  an  essential  feature 
of  all  such  enterprises,  the  corner-stone  of  the  library,  if  we  may  so 
call  it,  was  laid,  by  the  presentation  of  a  few  medical  books  by  Dr. 
John  Morgan,  early  in  L789,  before  the  college  had  had  time  to 
procure  a  bookcase  for  their  reception.  It  was  not  until  171'ii  that 
the  care  and  custodianship  of  a  distinct,  officer  seemed  to  be 
required,  when  Dr.  Nicholas  II.  Waters  voluntarily  assumed  the 
position  of  librarian. 

In  17s!i  it  was  determined  thai  the  papers  read  before  the 
college  should  be  collected,  as  seen  ns  possible,  in  a  Volume  of 
Transactions,  which,  however,  did  not  make  its  appearance  uu1 
17!!."{;  but,  in  the  meantime,  the  college  had  made  itself,  its  objects 
and  its  literary  needs  known  to  the  profession  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  in  a  letter  addressed  "to  the  most  respectable  medical 
characters  in  the  United  States"  bu1  to  only  one  hundred  of  these 
— but  with  the  good  result,  after  the  issue  iif  the  Transactions,  of 
bringing;  the  college  into  literary  affiliation  with  all  similar  works 


452  HISTORY  OP  MEDICINE 

and  with  medical  journals,  although  these,  all  told,  at  that  time 
were  not  numerically  strong.  At  a  meeting  in  the  summer  of  1789 
the  college  appointed  a  committee— Drs.  Jones,  Parke  and  Wistar 
— to  make  out  a  list  of  books  to  be  purchased  in  Europe;  but  more 
than  a  year  elapsed  before  they  were  received  from  Amsterdam, 
voyages  in  those  days  being  long  and  transportation  tardy. 
Upon  the  death  of  Dr.  John  Morgan,  in  1790,  about  a  dozen 
folio  and  quarto  volumes — the  works  of  Hippocrates,  Galen,  Mor- 
gagni  and  Harvey — came  into  the  possession  of  the  library.  The 
single  case,  which  contained  the  whole  library  of  the  college, 
became,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1791,  too  small  to  accommodate 
any  other  than  the  bound  volumes,  and  the  unbound  ones  had  not 
even  found  room  anywhere  in  the  college,  being  kept  at  the  home 
of  the  secretary. 

In  January,  1793,  the  library  was  removed  to  the  room  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Societj',  but  the  fellows  were  allowed  to 
take  out  books  only  once  a  month,  at  the  regular  meeting,  and  were 
rigidly  fined  if  delinquent  in  their  return.  Dr.  Michael  Leib  was 
elected  librarian  in  1792-93,  but  it  is  not  stated  how  long  he 
served  in  that  capacity.  From  this  time  on  to  the  close 
of  the  century,  the  library,  although  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
minutes,  did  not  make  much  progress  numerically,  nor  did 
it  receive  many  donations  from  the  private  collections  of 
local  medical  men,  or  additions  by  importation  from  abroad.  The 
funds  of  the  college  were  limited,  and  the  professional  zeal  of  the 
fellows  was  absorbed  in  active  labors  in  behalf  of  the  sufferers 
from  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  of  1793.  The  interest  in  the  library 
soon  revived,  however,  and  before  the  occurrence  of  the  next 
epidemic  of  the  same  disease — that  of  1797 — and  its  successor  of 
1799,  new  books  had  been  received  from  Amsterdam;  the  Medical 
Society  of  London  had  forwarded  its  Transactions,  and  a  number 
of  European  Latin  and  French  medical  journals  had  been  sub- 
scribed for.  The  three  yellow  fever  epidemics  gave  the  college  an 
opportunity  to  collect  and  publish  the  experiences  of  its  fellows 
and  of  the  profession  at  large,  bearing  particularly  on  the  nature 
and  origin  of  the  disease. 


l.\    I'llll.  \l  lELPHIA.  I.v; 

The  library,  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  round 
itself  feeble,  tardy  in  increase,  with  only  occasional  donations,  and 
annual  appropriations  of  sixty  pounds  from  the  college  thai  were 
sometimes  merely  nominal,  nol  being  paid  out  pf  the  treasur; 
ordered,  h  was,  indeed,  another  illustration  of  a  u< ►« »< I  resolution 
thai  was  not  carried  out.  Tin-  only  memorable  donation  was  thai 
of  Dr.  William  Currie,  in  L800,  of  tweuty  volumes,  ten  of  which 
were  Adrianus  Spigelius  "De  Elumano  Corpore."  The  bookci 
although  apparently  crowded  with  books,  contained  also  a  few 
pathological  specimens;  the  minutes  show  thai  one  of  the  meetings 
of  the  college  was  made  sensational  by  the  efforl  i<»  trace  the  pur- 
loiner  from  it  of  thehearl  of  an  extra-uterine  fcetus. 

Dr.  John  Coakley  Lettsom,  founder  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
London,  and  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Royal  Jennerian  Society, 
and  the  lirsi  one  to  forward  vaccine  lymph  to  this  country,  an 
associate  follow  of  the  college,  in  L803  forwarded  from  England, 
for  the  library,  a  few  valuable  books. 

From  1805  to  L815,  during  part  of  which  period  the  war  of  L812 
was  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all  Americans,  both  college  and 
library  Languished,  and  there  was  little  in  the  work  or  prog 
of  either  to  excite  admiration  Or  enthusiasm.  Few  now  fellows 
were  added  to  the  list,  although  the  initiation  Too,  formerly  fixed 
at  $26.67,  to  help  along  the  library,  was  now  placed  a1  $15.  After 
L815 — for  five  years  both  college  and  library  showed  a  greater 
degree  of  vitality,  although  donations  and  purchases  were  still  in- 
frequent, only  one  donation,  thai  of  a  Spanish  work  on  Tifus  l<  te- 
rodes,  by  Moreno,  being  received  during  thai  period,  and  the  chief 
purchase  being  of  ten  volumes  of  the  Edinburgh  Journal  for  six 
pounds  five  shillings.  The  imperfection  of  the  previous  catalog 
of  the  library  was  so  fully  recognized  that  a  new  one,  prepared  by 
Drs.  Parke  and  J.  \Y.  Moore,  was  issued  early  in  L819. 

The  college  always  met  "at  early  candlelight,"  bu1  a  number 
of  years  elapsed  before  anything  importanl  was  entered  on  its  min- 
utes relative  in  the  progress  of  the  library.    It.  is  presumable  that 
funds  were  uol  available  for  its  further  incremenl  or  thai  ti 
were  no1  so  prosperous  as  to  warrant  private  or  personal  expendi- 


454  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ture  in  this  direction.  To  us  of  the  present  day  it  would  seem  an 
impossibility  that  more  than  thirty  years  could  have  gone  by  with- 
out any  material  growth  of  the  library,  and  that  at  the  end  of  that 
period — that  is,  in  January,  1835 — the  first  regularly  appointed 
committee  on  the  library— Drs.  J.  W.  Moore,  William  S.  Coxe  and 
Simon  A.  Wickes — reported  that  "it  is  in  a  bad  condition  and  going 
to  decay."  In  June  of  this  same  year  this  committee  presented  to 
the  college  the  first  annual  report  of  their  well-directed  labors, 
which  gave  the  fellows  an  accurate  idea  of  the  character  and  num- 
ber of  the  volumes  in  the  library,  showing  that  the  books  were 
chiefly  ancient  and  inconveniently  placed  for  reference,  and  that 
for  a  whole  year  not  a  single  volume  had  been  called  for.  The 
college  could  hardly  boast  of  the  possession  of  a  library;  it  was 
merely  a  foundation  on  which  to  build  in  the  future,  for  the  college 
was  now  within  two  years  of  its  semi-centennial,  and  all  told  there 
were  but  31  folio  volumes,  67  quartos  and  193  octavos,  making  a 
total  of  291. 

In  1836  the  Kappa  Lambda  Association  of  the  United  States, 
which  had  published  twelve  volumes  of  the  "North  American 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,"  was  dissolved,  and  all  its  private 
papers,  proceedings,  etc.,  were  deposited  in  the  library  of  the  col- 
lege. The  annual  reports  showed  for  a  number  of  successive  years 
a  continuous  unanimity  of  expression  of  the  fact  that  a  single 
volume  and  a  few  pamphlets  had  been  added  to  the  library  during 
the  year,  and  that  but  little  reference  had  been  made  to  it  by  read- 
ers or  inquirers.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  in  these  modern  days  of 
enlightment  and  research  that  the  library  could  have  been  so  woe- 
fully neglected,  but  this  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  books 
comprising  it  were  not  of  such  recent  publication  as  to  provoke 
inquiry  or  that  the  exchange  system  Avas  then  imperfect  and  other 
medical  journals  not  regularly  received. 

In  October,  1840,  an  effort  was  made  to  interest  the  college, 
the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society  and  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Col- 
lege in  a  proposed  "Medical  Hall  Association  of  Philadelphia,"  in 
which  a  library — the  library — was  to  be  placed,  and  books  donated 
or  deposited  by  medical  contributors  to  add  numerical  strength  and 


i \   I'll 1 1.  \  i>i:i.rn  i  \. 

public  importance  to  it.  <>f  the  three  institutions  named,  the  col- 
lege alone  survives.  The  expense  of  the  undertaking  was  of  itself 
sufficient  to  throw  ;i  damper  upon  the  fruition  <>r  th<-  project,  and 
the  plan  was  soon  abandoned. 

In  isi  I  Dr.  John  C.  Otto,  being  about  to  leave  Philadelphia, 
sold  his  valuable  library  to  the  college  for  two  liundred  dollars,  but 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  room  for  the  books  at  the  college,  as  tli  ey 
were  deposited  in  ;i  room  over  l>i\  Hodge's  office  al  Ninth  and 
Walnut  streets.  In  June  <»f  this  year  the  library  committee  pre- 
sented to  the  college  some  importanl  suggesl  ions  as  to  1 1 1  *  *  election 
of  a  librarian,  the  arrangement  of  hours  for  across  to  the  library, 
and  its  future  development,  cataloguing,  etc.;  and  ye1  one  hour, 
twice  a  month,  one  of  these  !\vo  hours  being  thai  of  the  monthly 
meeting  of  the  college,  was  considered  ample  for  the  literary  needs 
of  the  I'd  lows;  hut  thou  the  same  report  staled  i  hat  i  In-  library  was 
"useless  for  want  of  care  and  arrangement,  and  its  benefits  entirely 
lost  to  its  membersj"  and  the  bookcase  containing  ii  stood  on  tie- 
first  landing  of  t he  staircase. 

An  importanl  step  was  taken  in  L845,  when  the  college  library, 
now  numbering  neatly  600  volumes,  was  removed  to  the  Mercant  ;L- 
Library  building;  a  new  catalogue  was  finished  in  January,  1846, 
and  several  hundred  volumes  were  deposited  by  the  Philadelphia 
.Medical  Society,  when  it  suspended  its  existence  in  L846,  which 
were  finally  donated  to  the  college  in  L850,  but  under  stipulations 
as  to  their  use  by  members  of  the  society,  who  were  not  fellows  of 
the  college,  that  were  not  acceptable  to  the  latter.  'The  strange 
upshot  of  this  affair  was  the  return  of  the  hooks  to  the  Philadelphia 
.Medical  Society,  and  their  sale  by  the  latter  for  aboul  four  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars,  which  amount  was  handed  over  to  the  College  of 
Physicians,  and  invested  by  the  college  for  the  purchase  of  new 
hooks;  and  this  culmination  of  the  original  transfer  of  the  honks 
took  place  nearly  a  duarter  of  a  century  after  their  tirst  deposit 
in  the  library. 

An  effort  was  made  in  1847  and  ISIS  to  make  the  library  more 
accessible,  by  giving  every  fellow  a  key  to  the  room  but  not  to  the 
bookcases,   except    when    the   college   was   in   session:    hut.    as   this 


450  HISTORY   OF  MEDICINE 

serai-liberality  did  not  go  far  enough,  keys  to  the  cases  were  left  in 
the  table-drawer.  The  medical  journals  were  within  reach,  how- 
ever, and  the  fellows  took  them  home  so  often  to  read,  and  forgot 
to  return  them,  that  a  new  order  of  things,  after  a  while,  became 
necessary,  although  how  long  this  defective  system  referred  to  had 
existed   is  not  stated  on  the  minutes 

Xew  interest  in  the  library  was  stirred  up  in  1852,  so  that  a 
large  collection  of  odd  journals  and  pamphlets  were  gathered  from 
shelves  on  which  they  had  been  collecting  dust  for  several  years. 
The  bookcases  began  to  feel  the  weight  of  these  accessions, 
and  the  future  care  of  the  library  soon  passed  into  responsible 
hands,  after  the  alteration  of  the  by-laws  in  1851,  by  the  annual 
election  of  a  librarian;  so  that  the  secretary  of  the  college,  who  had 
been  temporarily  acting  as  such,  and  the  committee  on  the  library, 
must  have  been  greatly  relieved. 

In  1854  the  library  was  removed,  and  the  college  changed  its 
meeting-place  to  the  Spruce  street  house,  a  portion  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital  in  which  Benjamin  West's  great  picture,  "Christ 
Healing  the  Sick,"  had  its  abiding  place.  This  would  have  been 
an  appropriate  time,  if  such  a  plan  was  ever  feasible  or  desirable, 
for  this  library  and  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  when  they 
were  in  such  near  proximity  and  propinquity,  to  be  carefully  com- 
pared, catalogued  and  consolidated;  but  the  college  library  could 
not,  under  such  conditions,  be  left  permanently  on  the  hospital 
grounds,  to  be  tied  down  by  strict  hospital  regulations  as  to  its  use 
for  purposes  of  consultation. 

Interest  was  rapidly  centering  in  the  library;  Dr.  T.  Hewson 
Bache  was  elected  librarian  in  January,  1S55,  under  the  new 
by-laws;  hundreds  of  medical  journals  were  contributed  to  com- 
plete defective  sets,  and  more  than  a  hundred  volumes  of  these 
were  bound  and  placed  on  the  shelves,  while  donations  of  books 
came  in,  in  large  numbers,  from  the  fellows,  notably  Dr.  Alfred 
Stille,  Dr.  Samuel  Lewis,  who  afterward  became  one  of  the  library's 
greatest  benefactors,  and  Dr.  Moreton  Stille',  personally,  and  a  few 
months  later  from  his  estate.  The  library  now  contained  about 
1,700  volumes,  a  total  which  was  soon  increased,  as  by  report  made 


I\    PHILADELPHIA. 

in  January,  L857,  to  2,155  volumes.  In  the  fall  of  iv~>7  Dr.  Thomas 
F.  Betton  of  Philadelphia  gave  bis  owe  library  and  thai  of  his 
father,  l>i\  Samuel  r>.  Betton,  bo  the  college,  comprising  a  Large 
Dumber  of  valuable  ;in<l  curious  works.  This  was  the  firsl  lai 
addition  whirh  tlie  library  had  ever  received  by  donation.  The 
Bettou  library  ai Qted  to  L,265  volumes. 

A  change  in  the  location  of  the  college,  by  its  proposed  removal 
to  Thirteenth  and  Locusl  Btreets,  was  agreed  upon  on  May  1,  iv~>''. 
A i  the  same  time  ;i  communication  was  received  from  the  widow 
of  Professor  Thomas  I  >.  .MniN-i-iir.iciTci-s.ni  Medical  College,  then 
recently  deceased,  offering  to  deposit  his  library  with  the 
college,  to  remain  as  ;i  permanenl  gift,  in  connection  with  his 
pathological  museum,  when  a  permanenl  building  for  its  reception 
should  be  constructed  l>.\  the  college.  Dr.  I  Eenry  I »« » 1 1  *  1 .  during  this 
year,  also  left  as  a  legacy  a  aumber  of  valuable  works  for  the 
library;  so  thai  when  the  annual  summary  was  made,  it  w;is  found 
thai  the  library  contained  nearly  4,000  volumes.  Early  in  the  next 
year  Drs.  T.  II.  Bache  (librarian),  Ruschenberger,  West,  Lewis, 
R.  P.  Thomas  and  W.  F.  Atlee  were  appointed  a  committee  to  pre- 
pare a  new  catalogue,  but,  by  some  mysterious  fatality,  their  labor 
of  many  months  was  brought  to  naught  by  the  loss  or  destruction 
of  the  completed  manuscript  in  some  way  that  could  never  be 
explained. 

In  L8G2  twenty-three  fellows  of  the  college  subscribed  for 
the  purchase  of  192  volumes  of  "Theses"  submitted  to  the  Faculty 
of  Medicine  of  Paris  for  twenty-five  years  pr<  vious  to  and  includ- 
ing 1846.  In  i he  latter  part  of  L863,  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Isaac  Rem- 
ington, the  library  became  the  possessor  of  195  volumes,  in  addi- 
tion to  numerous  pamphlets  and  journals.  l>v.  Walter  1\  Atlee 
succeeded  Dr.  Bache  in  L863  as  librarian,  the  Latter  having  entered 
the  military  service  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The  library  was 
soon  after  removed  to  its  new  quarters  ai  Thirteenth  and  Locust 
si  reels,  which  it  occupies  a  i  preseiii.  it  t  hen  numbered  aboul  1,500 
volumes.  The  librarians  successively  elected  were:  Drs,  C.  S. 
Baker  in  L864,  J.  II.  Slack  in  L865,  Roberl  Bridges  in  L868,  and 
Frank  Woodbury  in  L881,  on  the  resignation  of  the  latter. 


4§8  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

The  Lewis  Library,  as  it  lias  since  been  called,  was  founded  in 
1864  and  1865  by  the  addition  of  about  2,500  volumes  to  the  gen- 
eral library,  the  gift  of  Dr.  Samuel  Lewis  of  Philadelphia.  This 
valuable  collection  greatly  enriched  the  college  library,  and  the 
additions  since  made  to  it  by  the  generous  donor  have  given  it  still 
greater  importance,  and  it  remains  as  an  enduring  monument  to  his 
memory. 

In  1866  another  donation  of  great  literary  value  was  made  to 
the  college  by  Mr.  George  Ord  of  Philadelphia,  comprising  a  col- 
lection of  voyages  and  travels,  non-medical  dictionaries,  classical 
writings,  etc.,  appraised  in  value  at  $4,000,  for  which,  however, 
the  college  had  to  pay  §350  for  collateral  and  other  taxes. 

By  April,  1866,  the  total  number  of  volumes  in  the  library  was 
12. IIS.  and  so  important  for  reference  had  it  become  that,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Dr.  G.  B.  Wood,  president,  who  offered  also  to  make 
a  personal  gift  of  five  hundred  dollars  to  meet  the  additional 
expense,  the  duties  of  the  librarian  were  increased,  and  the  library 
was  to  be  open  daily  from  11  to  3  o'clock.  Dr.  Bridges  was  elected 
librarian  and  a  new  catalogue  put  into  an  active  state  of  prepara- 
tion. In  February,  1870,  an  important  Russian  work  on  Lithotomy, 
containing  plates,  23x30  inches,  was  presented  to  the  library  by 
Bujalsky.  a  Kussian  surgeon. 

Dr.  Francis  West,  in  1869,  left,  by  will,  several  hundred  vol- 
umes to  the  college  library,  and  Dr.  Charles  D.  Meigs,  in  like  man- 
ner, gave  it,  early  in  1870,  ninety-two  volumes  on  Midwifery.  The 
college,  in  1871,  determined  to  keep  the  library  open  in  the  even- 
ing, but  the  attendance  was  so  slight  that  it  did  not  seem  a  justi- 
hahle  procedure  to  continue  doing  so. 

Serial  literature  has  been  one  of  the  important  features  of  this 
library,  and  private  subscriptions,  as  far  back  as  the  year  1870, 
took  organized  shape  for  the  regular  purchase  of  medical  journals, 
in  the  establishment  of  a  fund,  voluntarily  contributed  by  a 
number  of  the  fellows,  constituting  themselves  "The  Journal  Asso- 
ciation of  the  College  of  Physicians."  Up  to  the  present  time  their 
continued  efforts,  supplemented  by  donations  <»f  periodicals  and 


I\    PHILADELPHIA.  159 

transactions  from  fellows,  medical  editors  and  others,  have  been 
\  <-ry  serviceable  i<»  the  library  in  this  direction. 

In  1^71  the  college  determined  to  purchase  the  pamphlets  and 
Mss.  formerly  belonging  to  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  of  Lexington, 
Kentucky.  In  L872  the  accumulated  interest  of  the  fund  given  by 
the  Philadelphia  Medical  Society  was  paid  over  to  the  library  com- 
mittee f<>r  the  purchase  <>f  books.  In  is;i  a  fixed  annual  appro- 
priation was  determined  upon  for  the  use  of  the  library,  and  I  >r. 
Thomas  Stewardson  acted  as  librarian  during  the  summer  vaca- 
tion. In  L876  a  committee  of  the  County  Medical  Society  was 
appointed  to  confer  with  the  college  on  the  practicability  of  extend- 
ing i1i«-  privileges  of  the  library  to  its  members;  bu1  the  college 
considered  thai  under  existing  regulations  ample  facilities  were 
already  afforded  members  and  the  medical  profession  for  using  it, 
when  properly  introduced.  In  November,  L877,  the  college  was 
authorized,  on  tin-  death  of  Dr.  Joseph  Carson,  to  selecl  from  his 
library  whatever  books  they  needed. 

In  May,  lsT(.»,  the  hall  committee  was  authorized  to  make 
importanl  changes  in  the  library,  by  the  addition  of  an  intermedi- 
ate fire-proof  floor,  and  in  June  of  the  same  year  the  library  com- 
mittee was  authorized  to  dispose  oi  portions  of  the  i*v<\  Library, 
which  interfered  with  the  growth  and  extension  of  the  general 
library.  In  the  summer  of  this  year  Dr.  s.  Hazlehursl  acted  tem- 
porarily as  librarian. 

The  choice  of  books  in  the  library  of   Dr.  George   B.   W I, 

deceased,  was  given  to  the  college  by  will,  and  a  number  of  valu- 
able hooks  were  added  to  the  library  from  this  source. 

In  November,  L880,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  gave  one  thousand 
dollars  to  the  library  fund,  for  the  establishment  of  a  competent 
journal  fund,  or  for  other  disposition  of  thai  sum  if  the  college  pre- 
ferred. The  "Weir  Mitchell  Library  Fund  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians <»f  Philadelphia"  was  thus  created,  in  January,  lvvl.  the 
library  committee  was  authorized  to  employ  annually  a  male  or 
female  assistanl  to  the  librarian  to  prepare  and  continue  the  card 
catalogue  and  to  assist  the  librarian.  .Miss  Emily  Thomas  was 
appointed,  early  in   1881,  to  prepare  and  continue  the  card  cata- 


460         .  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

logue.  The  librarian  was  also  allowed  an  assistant  to  perform  the 
more  mechanical  duties.  The  Ordinances  of  the  College  were 
amended  in  April,  1881,  so  as  to  define  more  clearly  the  duties  of  the 
librarian.  In  June  of  the  same  year  the  library  committee  was 
authorized  to  present  to  the  library  of  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  duplicates  in  its  possession  of 
the  books  of  the  late  Dr.  G.  B.  Wood.  Thanks  were  extended  to  Dr. 
M.  F.  Wickersham  for  the  donation  of  rare  and  valuable  medical 
books.  In  January,  1882,  the  library  committee  was  authorized  to 
sell  the  whole  of  the  Ord  Library,  and  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
were  realized  from  this  procedure.  At  the  same  meeting  a  large 
number  of  works  belonging  to  Dr.  William  Furness  Jenks  were 
presented  by  his  widow,  in  pursuance  of  his  expressed  wish,  and  he 
was  enrolled  on  the  list  of  benefactors  of  the  library.  In  March, 
1882,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  forwarded  another  check  for  one,  thou- 
sand dollars  for  purposes  already  stated — the  increase  of  the  num- 
ber of  journals,  or  for  any  other  use  to  which  it  might  be  preferably 
employed.  In  June  of  this  year  the  college  accepted  the  deposit 
of  the  library  of  the  late  Dr.  H.  Lenox  Hodge. 

Dr.  Woodbury  resigned  the  position  of  librarian  in  September, 
1882,  and  Mr.  Charles  Perry  Fisher,  who  had  been  his.  assistant, 
and  who  was  recommended  by  him  as  his  successor,  was  appointed 
acting  librarian  in  October  of  the  same  year.  The  Ordinances  and 
By-laws  were  amended  in  Xovember  of  the  same  year,  prescribing 
the  duties  of  the  honorary  librarian  and  the  assistant  librarian, 
and  of  the  library  committee.  Dr.  James  H.  Hutchinson  was  elected 
honorary  librarian,  a  position  which  he  held  until  his  death  in 
December,  1889.  Bules  were  adopted  for  the  government  of  the 
library,  which  was,  for  a  while,  kept  open  in  the  evening.  Mr. 
Fisher  was  nominated  by  the  library  committee  in  February,  1881, 
and  at  once  assumed  the  duties  of  librarian,  which  he  has  exercised 
with  zeal  and  fidelity  up  to  the  present  time. 

In  April,  1883,  another  effort  was  made  to  throw  the  library 
open  to  the  whole  profession,  but  the  council  reported  adversely 
as  to  its  feasibility.  In  September  of  that  year,  thanks  were  ten- 
dered Earl  Kimberly,  in  appreciation  of  his  courteous  gift  of  an 


IN    IMIII.Ahl  I. I'll  I  \.  k;i 

almosl  complete  sel  of  Hygienic  Reports  of  India.     In  June,  L884, 
the  college  accepted  the  special  deposit  of  the  Samuel   l>.  Gr< 
library,   by   Mm-   Philadelphia    Academy    of  Surgery,   which    \\;is 
received  in  October  of  the  same  3  ?ar,  under  ;i  mutual  agreement 
as  to  iis  use  ami  the  expense  of  its  maintenance,     a   permanent 
deposil   <>f  i1   was  made  in  April,   L885,  and   the  proposition 
accepted  thai  in  the  event  of  the  dissolution  "i  the  Academy,  this 
library  should  become  ili«'  absolute  property  of  the  college.     In 
November  of  this  year  Dr.  Alfred  Stille  presented  ''>'.ir>  volumes  to 
the  library.   A  motion  was  adopted  at  the  same  meeting  looking  to 
the  union  of  the  library  of  the  college  with  that  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital,  bul  at  a  subsequenl  meeting  was  reconsidered  an- 1 
indefinitely  postponed.    Dr.  I.  Minis  Hays  made  a  donation  of  901 
volumes  i«>  the  library;  and  in  November  of  iliis  year,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  wishes  of  his  father,  lately  deceased,  presented  an 
excellenl   portrait  of  Professor  William   Potts   Dewees.     At   this 
meeting  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  presented  a  very  valuable  collection 
of  works  on  Hysteria  and  other  nervous  diseases;  and  Dr.  Samuel 
Lewis  four  beautiful  examples  of  [ncunabula  and  an  editio  prin- 
ceps  of  Asellius  of  1627;  also  a  quarto  illustrated  volume  of  dis- 
tinguished professors  of  the  University  of  Edinburgh. 

In  January,  L886,  Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costa  presented  LOO  volumes 
of  valuable  medical  works,  ami  .Mr.  mow  Dr.)  George  I.  McKelway 
Kit!  volumes.  In  dune  of  this  year  the  widow  of  \>v.  J.  P.  Weight- 
man  presented  T>\'2  volumes  to  the  library,  chiefly  on  ophthal- 
mological  subjects.  The  library  of  the  Obstetrical  Society  was 
accepted  ns  a  permanent  deposit.  In  December  of  this  year  Dr.  S. 
W'eii-  Mitchell  presented  to  the  library  a  high  case  clock. 

At  the  da  unary,  1887,  meeting  a  marble  busl  of  Dr.  Joseph  Pan- 
coasl  was  presented  by  I  >r.  W.  H.  Pancoast;  and  one  of  the  late  Dr. 
Joseph  Parrish  by  Mr.  Joseph  Parrish.  Mr.  Richard  W 1  pre- 
sented, for  his  mother,  a  portrait,  id'  the  late  Dr.  George  B,  Wood. 
It  was  ordered  that  a  thousand  dollars,  presented  by  .Mr.  William 
Weightman,  be  invested  for  the  purchase  of  books  on  Ophthalmic 
Surgery,  to  be  added  to  the  collection  given  by  the  widow  of  his  son, 
Dr.  J.  P.  Weightman.  In  February  of  this  year  Dr.  Hunter  McGuire 
presented  an  original  letter  from  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  in  regard  to 


4G2  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  disease  from  which  George  Washington's  mother  suffered;  this 
was  ordered  to  be  framed.  In  Mar,  Mrs.  Mifflin  Wistar  presented 
fourteen  volumes  of  MSS.  notes,  by  Dr.  Caspar  Wistar,  of  the  lec- 
tures of  Drs.  Gregory,  Monro,  Black  and  Hunter.  In  November 
the  library  of  the  late  Dr.  X.  Archer  Randolph,  166  volumes  and  114 
pamphlets,  was  presented,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Lewis  gave  a  complete 
copy  in  Latin  of  Blegny's  Zodiacus  Medico-Gallicus,  1680-1680, 
the  first  medical  journal  ever  published. 

In  February,  1888,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  announced  the  pur- 
chase and  presentation  to  the  library  by  him  of  a  valuable  collec- 
tion of  letters,  autographs  and  official  documents  accumulated  by 
the  late  Dr.  W.  Kent  Gilbert  of  this  city.  These  were  afterward  col- 
lected into  four  large  folio  volumes,  in  which  they  were  skillfully 
mounted.  The  college  has  also  in  its  possession  a  large  bound  vol- 
ume of  manuscript  archives  (1787  to  1817)  of  priceless  value  to  it, 
as  associated  with  important  events  in  its  history.  In  May,  1888,  it 
was  stated  that  the  Lewis  Library  now  contained  over  10,000  vol- 
umes. In  October  of  this  year  Dr  Samuel  Lewis  presented  a  valuable 
collection  of  pamphlets,  principally  from  the;  collection  of  Sir 
Richard  Owen. 

In  June,  1889,  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Surgery  was 
granted  permission  to  deposit  in  the  Samuel  D.  Gross  Library  the 
books  of  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  W.  Gross,  on  the  same  conditions 
which  governed  the  original  deposit.  In  January,  1890,  Dr.  J.  M. 
Da  Costa  presented  113  rare  volumes,  purchased  by  him  from  the 
sale  of  the  Hewson  Library.  In  March,  1890,  subscriptions  were 
invited  from  the  fellows  for  the  purchase  of  the  new  "Dictionnaire 
Encyclopediciue  des  Sciences  Medicales,"  which  was  to  be  published 
in  a  hundred  volumes.  Dr.  Frederick  P.  Henry  was  at  this  meeting 
elected  honorary  librarian,  to  succeed  the  late  Dr.  Hutchinson.  Dr. 
Henry  has  occupied  this  position,  by  successive  election,  up  to  the 
present  time.  At  the  December  meeting  of  the  College  the  death 
of  Dr.  Samuel  Lewis  was  announced,  and  tributes  paid  to  him  as  a 
great  benefactor  of  the  library.  The  library  at  this  meeting  received 
a  gift  of  five  thousand  dollars  from  the  widow  of  Dr.  Lewis  Rodman, 
to  found  a  "Lewis  Rodman  Library  Fund,'"  the  income  of  which  was 
to  be  expended  in  the  purchase  of  books. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

In  March,  1891,  Mr.  Samuel  Clarkson,  a  descendant  of  i»r. 
Gerardus  Clarkson,  presented  ten  thousand  dollars  for  ih<-  library, 
i(»  be  invested  ,-is  the  beginning  of  a  library  endowment  fund.  At 
the  February,  1892,  meeting  ii  was  reported  that  the  southeastern 
I'oom  downstairs  had   been   arranged   as  ;i  stack-room   for  books. 

In  March,  1893,  l>r.  William  Osier  presented,  on  behalf  of  Dr. 
Awdrj  of  Berkeley,  10 n gland,  ;i  locket  containing  ;i  luck  of  bair  of 
Dr.  Jenner,  who  had  been,  ninety-one  years  before,  refused  by  i  1m* 
college  an  election  as  associate  fellow.  In  May,  L893,  through  the 
liberality  of  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  some  interesting  Incunabula  v 
presented  to  ih<-  library.  These  books,  printed  prior  to  ih<- 
L500,  are  forty-two  in  number,  and  include  Abana,  Petrus  de, 
!  190;  Albertus  Maguus,  I  173-1  199;  Argelata,  P.  de,  1  199;  Arnold  us 
de  Villa  Nova,  L475-1497;  Averrhoes,  L498;  Avicenna,  L486; 
Celsus,  L481-1497;  Cermisonius,  L480-1491;  Crescentius,  I486;  Cor- 
bejensis,  JEgidius,  1  I'M:  Gazius,  Am  on  ins.  L491;  Glanvil  or  <  i  Ian- 
villa,  L483-1485;  Grunpeck  de  Burckhausen,  1  4!m; ;  Heinricus  de 
Saxonia,  1489;  Joannes  Canonicus,  1481;  Kamintus,  1498;  Ketam 
or  Ketham,  Joannes,  14!>S;  Leonicenus  N'icolaus,  L498;  Magninus 
Mediolanensis  L482;  Montegnana  Bartholomeus,  L487-1497;  3d 
Maimonides,  L489;  Publicius,  J.,  L490;  Regimen  Sanitatis  Salerni- 
tanum,  L484-1491-1499;  Khazes,  1497;  Savonarola,  M.,  1496;  Valas- 
tusde  Tarenta  (circa  1  I7i>».  This  work  of  the  latter,  ""I  ><■  Epidemia 
el  Peste,"  Argentorati,  M.  Flach,  is  believed  to  be  the  first  medical 
work  ever  printed.  The  collection  of  curious  old  works  also  in- 
cludes three  excellently  preserved  volumes  of  manuscripts  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries. 

In  November,  1893,  Dr.  Alfred  Stille*  presented  about  500  vol- 
umes. In  March,  L894,  i  lie  widow  of  I  >r.  I  >.  Eayes  Agnew  presented 
to  the  college  the  souvenir  of  gold  and  brilliants  presented  him 
in  L888  by  his  medical  friends  on  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anni- 
versary of  his  entrance  into  the  profession.  In  May,  L894,  ;i  gift  of 
five  thousand  dollars  was  announced  from  Mr.  Clement  A.  Gris- 
com,  to  establish  n  "John  D.  Griscom  Book  Fund,"  in  memory  of 
his  father,  a  fellow  of  the  college,  who  died  in  L890.  In  dune 
I>r.  R.  P.  Harris  gave  l'i's  volumes. 

In  June,  1S'.»">.  another  effort  was  mad.-  to  have  the  Library 


•464  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

open  in  the  evenings,  but  this  was  not  carried  into  effect,  past 
experiences  not  being  favorable  to  such  action.  In  November, 
1895,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  presented,  on  behalf  of  the  president 
(Dr.  Da  Costa),  himself  and  a  friend  of  the  college,  the  original 
diploma  in  medicine  given  by  the  University  of  Edinburgh  to  Dr. 
John  Morgan.  In  January,  1896,  Mr.  H.  Lenox  Hodge  presented 
the  library  of  his  father,  Dr.  H.  Lenox  Hodge,  a  deceased  fellow, 
which  had  been  in  its  keeping  since  his  death.  In  February,  1890, 
Dr.  J.  M.  Da  Costa  presented  114  volumes  to  the  library. 

At  the  April,  1896,  meeting,  on  motion  of  Dr.  F.  P.  Henry,  hon- 
orary librarian,  a  committee  (fourteen  in  number)  was  appointed 
to  obtain  subscriptions  from  the  general  public  toward  a  fund  for 
the  endowment  of  the  library,  but,  on  his  motion,  the  committee 
was  discharged  in  January,  1897,  as  it  had  failed  to  make  any 
progress.  In  May,  1896,  the  estate  of  Dr.  Lewis  D.  Harlow  depos- 
ited with  the  library  papers,  etc.,  relating  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Medical  College  and  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  of  which 
he  had  been  the  official  custodian.  In  February,  1897,  the  estate 
of  Dr.  William  H.  Pancoast,  a  recently  deceased  fellow,  presented 
335  volumes  to  the  library.  In  April,  1897,  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  a  memorial  to  Congress,  protesting  against  the 
removal  from  the  free  list,  in  the  pending  tariff  bill,  of  books  and 
philosophical  apparatus  imported  for  the  use  of  incorporated  scien- 
tific bodies. 

In  October,  1897,  Dr.  Richard  J.  Dunglison  presented  a  folio 
volume  containing  a  large  number  of  diplomas,  certificates,  etc.,  of 
his  father,  the  late  Dr.  Robley  Dunglison,  a  fellow  of  the  college, 
collected  during  half  a  century,  and  rich  in  valuable  autographs  of 
distinguished  men. 

At  the  present  time  the  library  of  the  college  has  current 
numbers  of  more  than  six  hundred  journals  on  its  racks,  some  of 
them  obtained  by  subscription  by  the  college,  but  the  greater 
part  by  special  funds,  as  that  of  the  Journal  Association, 
and  by  donations,  exchange  and  the  gift  of  publishers  and  editors. 
There  are  about  two  hundred  donors  on  the  list  of  contributors  of 
works  to  the  library,  in  small  or  large  amounts,  so  that  it  is  now 


i  \   run.  iDEl  I'liiA. 

impossible,  without  invidious  distinction,  to  make  a  comprehend 
lisi  of  i is  grea test  benefael ors. 

The  walls  and  niches  of  the  various  rooms  constituting  Hi- 
library  of  the  college  six  in  number  are  decorated  with  <  il 
paintings  and  numerous  framed  photographs,  engravings  and 
mementos,  some  of  i  hem  curious  as  well  as  interesting,  of  the  early 
and  late  fellows  of  the  college,  and  of  distinguished  member* 
the  profession  at  home  and  abroad.  There  are  marble  -busts  of 
Drs. Samuel D. Gross,  Samuel  George  Morton,  N.  Chapman,  Joseph 
Pancoast  and  Joseph  Parrish;  a  bronze  bust  of  Henry  J.  Bigelow, 
and  plaster  busts  of  Stromeyer,  Benjamin  Rush  and  -f < >  1 1 1 1  0.  War- 
ren; and  oil  paintings  of  Hippocrates,  William  Harvey,  Abraham 
Chovet,  Philip  Syng  Physiek,  Benjamin  Rush,  John  Morgan,  John 
Redman,  William  P.  Dewees,  William  Shippen,  Cuvier,  Alex.  Wn 
Humboldt,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Caspar  Wistar,  Benjamin 
Duffield,  Thomas  Parke,  John  Foulke,  Henry  Neill,  Thomas  C 
James,  John  Hutchinson,  Thomas  Cadwalader,  Gay-Lussac,  John 
A.  Monges,  <  teorge  B.  Wood,  Joseph  Hartshorne,  Charles  < Jaldwell, 
W.  W.  Gerhard,  J.  Rhea  Barton,  Robert  Hare,  Lewis  Rodman, 
Samuel  Jackson,  Washington  L.  At  lee,  Thomas  Cooper,  Samuel 
Lewis,  William  Hunt,  Alfred  Stille,  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  Jacob  M. 
Da  Costa,  James  II.  Hutchinson,  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger,  1  >. 
Hayes  Agnew,  Joseph  Leidy  and  N.  A.  Randolph. 

A  count  of  (he  hooks  in  the  College  Library,  made  in  Octob*  r, 
1897,  shows  that,  there  are  54,097  volumes  on  the  shelves,  exclu- 
sive of  duplicates,  in  addition  to  28,750  unbound  pamphlets  ami 
4,903  unbound  reports  and  transactions.  As  exhibiting  the  stead v 
growth  of  the  library,  it  may  he  stated  that  since  January.  L892, 
14,764  volumes  have  been  added  i<>  it,  and  this  additional  num- 
ber, in  only  five  years,  is  greater  than  the  total  id'  the  library  in 
lsio,  which  was  then,  after  eighty  years  of  Ltsexistence,  only  1 1,102; 
and  is  nearly  as  great  as  the  total  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital 
Library  at  the  present  time,  that  being  L4,966  volumes. 

Mr.  Henry  M.  Smaltz,  in  <  >ctober,  L897,  presented  to  the  library 
285  volumes  of  medical  books,  which  are  included  in  the  above 
summary. 

30 


466  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

III.  —  The  Medical  Library  of  the  Philadelphia  Hospital. 

So  far  as  is  known  the  only  published  account  of  this  library, 
up  to  the  present  time,  is  that  included  in  a  lecture  by  the  late 
Dr.  D.  Hayes  Agnew,  delivered  about  thirty-five  years  ago.  The 
subject  of  a  library  was  first  agitated  in  1805,  and  a  room  devoted 
to  it  in  1808,  when  the  first  expenditure  was  made  in  its  behalf.  At 
first  the  senior  student  was  the  librarian;  afterward  the  apothe- 
cary assumed  the  duties.  Money  received  from  house  pupils  was 
devoted  to  the  library,  and  the  sum  of  thirty  dollars  was  charged 
as  a  life  privilege  for  the  use  of  the  library.  In  1818  a  catalogue 
was  prepared,  showing  that  there  were  1,022  volumes  in  the 
library.  In  1827, 120  foreign  theses  were  presented  by  Dr.  William 
JE.  Horner.  Another  catalogue  was  prepared  by  Dr.  E.  F.  Eivinus, 
one  of  the  resident  physicians.  Many  valuable  ancient  works  were 
included  in  it.  Additions  were  made  to  the  library  for  a  number  of 
years  by  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  clinical  tickets,  until  the 
whole  collection  amounted  to  about  3,000  volumes;  but  Dr.  Agnew's 
historical  sketch  did  not  give  a  very  favorable  prospect,  of  its 
future,  inasmuch  as  the  library  "has  been  plundered,  by  the  vandal- 
ism to  which  it  has  been  exposed,  of  much  valuable  matter."  Drs. 
C.  Pendleton  Tutt  and  J.  L.  Ludlow,  successively,  acted  as  librarian 
for  a  series  of  years,  but  even  at  that  time  the  giving  out  of  vol- 
umes was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  trustworthy  resident  pauper. 

The  librarian  of  the  hospital,  since  the  death  of  Dr.  Ludlow, 
has  been  the  chief  resident  physician.  Dr.  D.  E.  Hughes,  the  present 
efficient  occupant  of  that  position,  assumed  control  of  the  library  in 
the  year  1890,  and  found  the  books  in  a  bad  condition  and  very 
imperfectly  shelved  and  catalogued.  Since  then  the  library  has 
been  moved  into  a  larger  room,  the  books  mended,  properly  classi- 
fied and  shelved  and  catalogued  by  title  and  author.  Dr.  Hughes 
reports  that  the  rare  works  mentioned  in  the  early  descriptions  of 
the  library  are  mostly  missing,  although  there  are  many  old  and 
valuable  works  still  on  the  shelves.  The  present  number  of  books 
is  4,612;  new  ones  are  constantly  being  added,  and  the  library  is 
well  up  to  date.  In  fact,  it  is  a  first-class  working  library  for 
hospital  uses. 


CHAPTER     VIII. 

MEDICAL    fURISPRUDENCE    IN     PHILADELPHIA. 

The  history  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  any  city  or  Locality 
should  include  some  accounl  of  the  most  important  teachers  and 
writers  on  t  i i < *  subject,  ;i  description  of  the  methods  of  instruction 
pursued  in  the  medical  and  Legal  institutions  in  the  community,  a 
history  of  the  societies  or  other  organizations  interested  in  the 
dissemination  of  medico-legal  knowledge,  and  some  accounl  of  cele- 
brated or  important  rases.  These  subjects  can,  however,  be  consid- 
ered here  only  briefly  and  imperfectly.  As  LMiiladelphia  was  the 
first  medical  center  in  this  country,  the  teaching  of  medical  juris- 
prudence in  America  probably  began  in  this  city.  The  earliest 
knowledge  of  such  insl  ruction  in  the  history  of  Philadelphia  relates 
to  Benjamin  Rush. 

Dr.  Rush  was  connected  with  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  its  predecessor,  from 
17(19  until  his  death  in  1S13,  during  which  time  he  occupied  the  posi- 
tions of  professor  of  Chemistry,  professor  of  the  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine,  professor  of  the  Institutes  and  Practice  of  Modi- 
cine  and  Clinical  Practice,  and  of  professor  of  the  Practice  of 
Physic.  In  his  volume  of  Sixteen  Introductory  Lectures  to 
Courses  of  Lectures  upon  the  Institute  and  Practice  of  Medicine, 
etc.,  published  by  Bradford  &  Iuskeep  of  Philadelphia,  in  1811, 
Rush  devotes  liis  sixteenth  Lecture  to  the  study  of  Medical  Juris- 
prudence. This  lecture  was  delivered  in  1810  at  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  in  it  l>r.  Rush  dwell  <>u  the  subject  of  Medical 
Jurisprudence.  After  enumerating  the  subjects  of  .Medical  Juris- 
prudence in  general,  he  selects  for  particular  discussion  those  states 
of  the  mind  which  should  incapacitate  a  man  to  dispose  of  his  prop- 
erty, or  to  bear  wit  ness  in  a  court  of  just  ice;  and  those  which  should 

167 


468  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

exempt  him  from  punishment  for  the  commission  of  what  are  called 
crimes  by  the  laws  of  our  country. 

Brief  reference  to  the  main  points  of  this  lecture  may  not  prove 
uninteresting.  He  attributes  intellectual  derangement  to  three 
causes:  To  acute  inflammation  of  the  brain,  called  phrenitis  or 
phrensy;  to  chronic  inflammation  of  the  brain,  called  mania  or 
madness;  and  to  delirium,  which  is  a  symptom  only  of  general  dis- 
ease of  the  blood-vessels,  or  of  some  part  of  the  body  connected 
by  sympathy  with  the  brain.  His  conclusions  are  that  in  no  stage 
of  phrensy  is  a  person  in  a  condition  to  dispose  of  property  or  con- 
tract legal  guilt  of  any  kind;  that  in  madness,  when  it  is  general, 
or  in  its  intervals,  when  these  occur  after  weekly,  or  even  monthly, 
paroxysms  of  madness,  the  person  is  not  in  a  condition  to  dispose  of 
property  or  contract  legal  guilt;  and  the  same  is  true  where  per- 
sons depart  in  their  feelings,  conversation  and  conduct  in  a  great 
degree  from  their  former  habits." 

Dr.  Charles  Caldwell  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  Medical 
Jurisprudence  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  from  1812  to  1813. 

In  1819,  Dr.  Thomas  Cooper,  who  had  previously  been  a  judge 
of  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  then  professor  of  Chemistry 
and  Mineralogy  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  reprinted  in 
the  "Tracts  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,"  with  notes  and  additions, 
the  English  works  of  Farr,  Dease,  Male  and  Haslem.  Ten  years 
later  Dr.  J.  Bell  published  at  Philadelphia,  an  introductory  address 
upon  the  same  subject,  and  also  issued  a  syllabus  of  a  course  of 
lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  Philadelphia  Medical  In- 
stitute. 

The  first  American  edition  of  a  well-known  work  on  Medical 
Jurisprudence,  by  Michael  Ryan,  was  edited  with  notes  and  addi- 
tions by  Robert  Eglesfeld  Griffith,  M.  D.,  and  published  by  Carey 
&  Lea  of  Philadelphia,  in  1832.  Two  chapters  of  this  book  were 
entirely  written  by  Dr.  Griffith,  who  was  at  that  time  lecturer  on 
Materia  Medica  and  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  Philadelphia 
School  of  Medicine.  He  was  a  well-known  writer  and  teacher,  hav- 
ing at  one  time  been  a  professor  in  the  Philadelphia  School  of 
Pharmacy  and  editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  at 


\    PHILADELPHIA. 


that  time  known  as  the  Journal  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy.  He  was  also  a  professor  in  the  University  of  Mary- 
land and  lecturer  in  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  later  returned 
to  Philadelphia.  At  the  time  of  bis  death  ill  lv.~><>  he  was  one  of 
the  vice-presidents  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  <>r  Natural  Sci- 
ences. 

Isaac  \i-.\\ ,  M.  I  >..  LL.  D.,  author  of  the  great  work  on  the  "Medi- 
cal Jurisprudence  of  Insanity,"  was  a  resident  of  Philadelphia 
from  1  st; 7  until  his  death  on  March  31,  L881.  I  !<•  was  an  influential 
and  active  member  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Philadelphia 
and  of  the  Social  Science  Association,  and  was  one  of  the  guard- 
ians of  ill*'  poor  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  While  holding  this 
|M>siiieii  he  gave  s|»eci;il  attention  to  the  insane  department  <>f  the 
Philadelphia  Hospital.  As  lecturer  <m  Insanity  in  the  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College  of  Philadelphia  he  gave  the  first  instruction 
on  insanity  given  in  the  Philadelphia  medical  schools  after  the 
timeof  Rush.  Mis  treatise  on  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  of  Insan- 
ity has  never  been  rivaled  nor  approached  in  iliis  country,  and  has 
scarcely  been  surpassed  in  any  other.  In  his  "Contributions  to 
Menial  Pathology  ,"  published  in  L873,  are  articles  on  many  medico- 
legal cases,  including  the  celebrated  Hinchman  case,  several  will 
cases,  and  an  article  <m  medical  experts.  During  the  time  of  his 
residence  in  Philadelphia  l>r.  Kay  appeared  in  aumerous  important 
cases  in  which  the  question  of  insanity  was  at  issue. 

For  many  years  Dr.  John  .James  Reese  was  one  of  the  fore- 
most medical  jurists  and  toxicologists  of  Philadelphia,  lie  was 
born  dnne  L6,  L818,  and  died  September  4,  1892.  He  was  educated 
both  in  the  collegiate  and  medical  departments  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  lie  was  one  of  the  founders  and  the  third  presi- 
dent of  the  Medical  Jurisprudence  Society  of  Philadelphia;  he 
was  an  honorary  member  of  the  Ne>\  York  Medico-Legal  Society, 
and  was  a  member  of  a  number  of  medical  societies  and  associa- 
tions, local,  siate  and  national,  lie  was  the  author  of  a  text-book 
of  medical  jurisprudence  and  toxicology,  which  lias  readied  a 
fourth  edition  and  is  used  as  a  text-book  in  several  of  the  Philadel- 
phia medical  colleges.    He  edited  the  seventh  and  eighth  editions 


470  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

of  Taylor's  Manual  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  and  was  also  the 
author  of  a  manual  of  toxicology  and  of  numerous  monographs 
and  contributions  on  subjects  pertaining  to  forensic  medicine  and 
toxicology,  among  these  being  one  on  "Live  Birth  in  Its  Medico- 
Legal  Relations."  He  also  wrote  an  elaborate  review  of  the  trial 
of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  G.  Wharton.  This  case,  one  of  the  cqusm  celebres 
of  this  country,  was  tried  at  Baltimore,  and  in  it  were  engaged  a 
number  of  distinguished  American  experts  from  Philadelphia  and 
elsewhere.  He  was  professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  including 
Toxicology,  in  the  Auxiliary  Department  of  Medicine  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  from  1805  until  October.  1891. 

The  Auxiliary  Department  of  Medicine  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania  was  endowed  by  Dr.  George  B.  Wood  in  1865.  The 
intention  of  its  founder  was  to  supplement  by  it  the  regular  course 
of  medical  instruction  by  lectures  on  branches  of  science,  which 
he  deemed  necessary  to  the  thorough  education  of  the  physician. 
The  branches  included  in  the  curriculum  of  this  course  were  zoology 
and  comparative  anatomy,  botany,  hygiene,  medical  jurisprudence 
and  mineralogy  and  geology.  The  course  was  intended  to  be  free 
to  students  and  graduates  of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  other  students  being  required  to  pay  a  fee 
of  |5  and  a  special  tuition  fee  for  each  course  or  all  the  courses. 
The  faculty  of  this  department  was  organized  December  1G,  1865, 
and  the  first  course  of  lectures  was  delivered  in  the  spring  of  1806. 
For  many  years  the  lectures  of  the  course  were  delivered  during 
the  spring  months,  after  the  close  of  the  regular  medical  session, 
in  March  or  April.  As  the  different  departments  in  the  University 
developed,  some  of  the  courses  of  instruction  were  transferred  to 
different  departments.  The  courses  on  Hygiene  and  Medical  Juris- 
prudence were  given  in  the  medical  hall  or  in  the  laboratory  of 
hygiene. 

Professor  Reese  delivered  a  systematic  course  on  Medical  Juris- 
prudence, including  toxicology,  in  connection  with  this  department, 
up  to  1891.  The  terms  of  the  endowment  of  the  department  called 
for  a  course  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  but  this  was  made  by  the 
faculty  and  by  Dr.  Reese  to  include  toxicology,  and  his  usual  course 


I  \   PHILADELPHIA.  ill 

of  instruction  included  two  lectures  per  week  on  General  Medical 
Jurisprudence  and  one  on  Toxicology.  These  lectures  of  Dr.  Lteese 
were  popular  with  the  students,  and  were  generally  w  '-I I  attended. 

Dr.  Charles  K.  .Mills  was  appointed  .M;i.\  2,  L892,  by  the  tru* 
tees  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  professor  of  Mental  Dis- 
eases and  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  with  the  understanding  thai 
he  was  to  til!  i  Ik-  chair  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  Auxiliary 
Depart  menl  of  Medicine,  attendance  upon  the  lectures  of  this 
course  to  students  desiring  a  certificate  or  diploma  being  compul- 
sory. The  lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  like  those  on  Mental 
Diseases,  were  also  to  be  open  ;is  a  voluntary  elective  i"  students 
of  the  tliird  and  fourth  years  of  the  regular  medical  department. 
Since  L893-9J  they  have  been  regularly  postered  as  a  pari  of  the 
fourl h-year  course.  In  L896,  the  course  \\  ns  made  a  minor  elective 
for  graduation  and  the  degree  in  medicine  for  students  of  the  fourth 
year.  The  lectures  delivered  by  Dr.  Mills  are  on  Medical  Jurispru- 
dence alone,  [instruction  in  Toxicology  is  given  by  the  professor  of 
Chemistry  in  the  Medical  Department.  Since  L894  Dr.  Mills  has 
made  pari  of  Ins  course  clinical,  giving  the  instruction  a1  the  Phila- 
delphia Hospital,  the  material  being  drawn  from  the  large  numb<  r 
of  patients  under  his  care  in  the  nervous  wards  and  [nsane  Depart- 
ment. In  these  lectures  he  has  been  able  to  illustrate  practical 
points  in  forensic  medicine  regarding  such  subjects  as  aphasia, 
epilepsy,  hysteria,  hypnotism,  traumatisms,  feigned  and  factitious 
diseases,  alcoholism,  idiocy  and  imbecility,  and  insanity  in  all  its 
phases.  Although  the  lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the 
fourth  year  are  elective,  they  are  well  attended.  Certificates  of 
attendance  and  proficiency  in  Medical  Jurisprudence  are  given  to 
the  graduates  of  the  Medical  Department  who  have  attended  a  full 
course  of  instruction  in  the  Auxiliary  Medical  Departmenl  and 
have  passed  satisfactory  examinations. 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Chapman  began  to  teach  the  subject  of  Medical 
Jurisprudence  systematically  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in 
tli  e  winter  of  L891,  making  ii  a  pari  of  the  regular  winter  ionise, 
and  examining  on  the  same,  having  previously  lectured  on  the  sub- 
jed  during  the  spring  for  a  number  of  years.    The  common  course 


472  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

extends  over  about  two  months,  including  two  lectures  a  week, 
excluding  toxicology,  which  has  been  taught  for  at  least  twenty- 
five  years  by  the  professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Jefferson  College. 
Dr.  Chapman  is  professor  of  Institutes  of  Medicine,  which  includes 
Physiology  and  Medical  Jurisprudence,  and  Dr.  Holland  is  the  pro- 
fessor of  Toxicology.  Dr.  Chapman  has  published  a  manual  of 
Medical  Jurisprudence  and  Toxicology,  the  first  edition  of  which 
was  issued  in  1893,  and  the  second  edition,  containing  a  brief 
bibliography,  in  1896. 

Dr.  J.  J.  Reese  was  appointed  lecturer  on  Medical  Jurispru- 
dence in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania,  and  con- 
tinued, untii  1892,  to  deliver  a  number  of  lectures  on  the  subject 
--very  spring.  In  1893,  Dr.  Charles  K.  Mills  was  appointed  lec- 
turer on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  to  succeed  Dr.  Ueese,  and  since 
that  time  has  given  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  subject  hue  in  the 
winter  or  early  iu  the  spring.  The  course  includes  ten  lectures, 
and  is  attended  by  students  of  the  third  and  fourth  years.  As  it  is 
attended  by  students  of  both  these  years,  it  is  made  progressive 
during  the  two  years,  the  subject  lectured  upon  one  year  not  being 
lectured  upon  the  next.  The  entire  course  of  two  years,  therefore. 
covers  twenty  lectures.  Toxicology  is  not  included  in  the  instruc- 
tion, which  is  given  by  the  professor  of  Chemistry. 

Upon  the  organization  of  the  faculty  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical 
College,  a  chair  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  was  embraced  in  the 
curriculum,  and  Abraham  ^.  Gerhard.  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  was  elected 
professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  and  of  Clinical  Medicine.  After 
the  death  of  Professor  Gerhard,  Spencer  Morris,  Ph.  D.,  M.  D.,  was 
elected  adjunct  professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence.  He  delivers 
twenty-eight  lectures  during  a  session.  The  trustees  of  this  college 
regard  this  branch  of  the  curriculum  of  such  importance  to  its 
alumni  that  if  the  candidate  for  graduation  fails  in  his  final  exam- 
ination to  obtain  a  mark  of  less  than  seventy,  he  is  refused  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  The  successful  candidate  is  given  a 
certificate  stating  that  he  has  passed  the  required  examination. 

The  standard  English  Manual  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  by 
Alfred  Swayne  Taylor,  has  passed  through  a  number  of  American 


i\  I'iiii.  \  i>i;i.riii.\. 


i. 


editions,  which  have  been  edited  l».\  Philadelphia  physicians  and 
issued  Prom  Philadelphia  publishing  houses.  An  early  edition, 
issued  by  Lea  and  Blanchard,  in  L845,  was  edited  by  Roberl  Egleh 
feld  Griffith,  .M.  I  >.,  who  had  ;ilsd  been  the  American  editor  "i 
[{van's  Medical  Jurisprudence.  The  third,  fourth  and  fifth  Ameri- 
can editions  of  i  his  work  were  edited  by  Edward  Hartshorne,  M.  I)., 
the  lasl  of  these  appearing  in  L861.  The  sixth  American  edition 
of  this  work,  with  notes  and  references  to  American  decisions,  was 
edited  b\  Clement  r>.  Penrose,  Esq.,  of  the  Philadelphia  bar.  The 
seventh  and  eighth  American  editions,  issued  in  is7:'»  and  I 
were  edited  by  Professor  John  J.  Reese,  .M.  I  >.  Reference  has  ;<l- 
ready  been  made  to  the  original  contributions  of  Professor  Re<  se 
to  the  subject  of  .Medical  Jurisprudence. 

"A  Monograph  on  Mental  Unsoundness,"  by  Francis  Wharton, 
LL.  I  >.,  was  i  ml  dished  in  1 885  by  Kay  &  Bro.  of  Philadelphia.  In  I  he 
same  year,  "A  Treatise  <  >  1 1  Medical  Jurisprudence,"  by  B'rancis 
Wharton,  LL.  D.,  and  Moreton  Stille",  M.  I).,  ;i  volume  of  815  pages, 
was  issued  by  die  same  publishers,  oilier  editions  of  this  work 
were  copyrighted  in  L860  and  L872.  The  medical  portion  of  this 
treatise  was  revised,  with  numerous  additions,  by  Alfred  Siiile. 
M.  I>.,  in  L860.  The  first  volume  of  the  third  edition  was  published 
in  1872,  and  the  second  volume,  edited  by  Samuel  Ash  hurst,  M.  I  >.. 
of  Philadelphia,  Robert  Amory,  M.  D.,  of  Brookline,  Massachusetts, 
and  Wharton  Sinkler,  M.  I>.,  of  Philadelphia,  appeared  in  L873.  In 
L882  a  fourth  edition  of  this  standard  work  was  issued,  the  first 
volume  having  for  its  subtitle,  "A  Treatise  on  .Mental  Unsoundness, 
l>v  Francis  Wharton,"  while  the  second  volume  was  edited  by 
Robert  Amory,  M.  D.,  and  Edward  S.  Wood.  M.  I  >. 

Moreton  St  i  lie,  M.  I  >.,  was  a  member  of  a  distinguished  family, 
one  of  his  brothers.  Charles  J.  Stille,  LL.  I  >..  having  been  professor 
of  Ilistorv,  ami  provost  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
another,  Allied  Stille,  M.  I  >.,  LL.  D.,  having  been  for  main  years 
professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University.  The  share  assigned  to  Dr.  Moreton 
Stille  in  Wharton  and  Stille's  .Medical  Jurisprudence  "consisted  in 
the  articles  on  the  'Fo?tus  and  New-born  Child/    on   'Sexual  Rela- 


474  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

tions,'  on  'Identity,'  and  on  the  'Causes  of  Death.'  Referring  to 
the  manner  in  which  this  portion  of  the  work  was  executed,  one  of 
his  biographers,  Dr.  Hollingsworth  (a),  says:  'The  unanimous  senti- 
ment of  the  profession,  so  far  at  least  as  it  has  been  expressed  in 
the  numerous  reviews  that  have  been  written  upon  it,  is  that  it  is 
a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  medical  literature.  It  certainly 
occupies  a  position  in  advance  of  all  previous  works  upon  the  same 
subject,  for  much  of  its  information,  owing  to  its  being  gathered 
from  sources  almost  entirely  unexplored  before,  is  positively  novel. 
Almost  every  page  in  it  testifies,  by  its  numerous  references,  to  the 
extended  research  of  the  writer  in  these  exotic  regions.' ' 

Dr.  J.  O.  Ordronaux  was  the  author  of  a  treatise,  entitled  The 
Jurisprudence  of  Medicine,  which  was  published  in  Philadelphia 
in  1869. 

Hamilton's  System  of  Legal  Medicine,  published  in  1894,  R.  0. 
McMurtrie,  Esq.,  of  the  Philadelphia  bar,  has  in  the  first  volume  a 
paper  on  "The  Obligation  of  the  Insured  and  the  Insurer,"  while 
Volume  II  contains  a  paper  on  "Aphasia  and  Other  Affections  of 
Speech,"  by  Charles  K.  Mills,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

In  addition  to  the  editing  by  Pliiladelphians  of  the  manuals 
of  Ryan  and  of  Taylor,  and  the  publishing  of  the  works  of  Wharton, 
Stille,  Reese  and  Chapman,  many  valuable  medico-legal  papers 
have  been  written  by  Honorable  William  1\T.  Ashman,  John  A. 
Clark,  Esq.;  Hampton  L.  Carson,  Esq.;  Thomas  W.  Barlow,  Esq.; 
Paschal  H.  Coggins,  Esq.;  T.  G.  Wormley,  M.  D.;  II.  C.  Wood,  M.  D.; 
John  Marshal,  M.  D.;  Francis  X.  Dercum,  M.  D.;  Henry  Leffmann, 
M.  D.;  James  Hendrie  Lloyd,  M.  D.;  John  B.  Chapin,  M.  D.;  W.  Duf- 
field  Robinson,  M.  D.;  M.  V.  Ball,  M.  D.,  and  E.  N.  Brush,  M.  D. 

An  organization  known  as  the  Medico-Legal  Society  of  Phila- 
delphia has  been  in  existence  since  1871.  It  was  organized  in  a 
hall  at  Ridge  avenue  and  Master  street,  August  25,  1877,  under  the 
name  of  the  Northwestern  Medical  Association.  The  name  was 
changed  to  the  Philadelphia  Medico-Legal  Society,  January  2, 
1880.    It  was  chartered  March  12,  1883,  as  the  Medico-Legal  Society 

(a)    Biography  of  Eminent  American   Physicians    and    Surgeons,  edited    by  It. 
French  Stone,  M.  D.,  Indianapolis,  1894. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  i;:, 

of  Philadelphia,    lis  objects  ."in-  i«»  disseminate  such  medico  Legal 
know  ledge  as  will  be  useful  i<»  the  membership  and  will  prove  bi 
ficial  to  the  community  .11  large;  and  i<>  effect  a  close  adherence  '" 
the  code  of  ethics  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  its  presidents:  L883,  < '.  R.  Prall,  .M.  1 1 .; 
issi/r.  s.  Butcher,M.  D.;  L885and  L886,  Franklin  B.  Harzel,  .M.  D.j 
L887,  William  C.  Hollopeter,  M.  I>.;  L888  and  L889,  Joseph  D. 
Schoales,  M.  D.;  L890,  William  F.  Waugh,  M.  D.;  L891,  Joseph  Mar- 
tin,  .M.  I>.;  L892,  Wilson  Buckby,  M.  D.;  L893,  William  A.  Chandler, 
M.  D.;  L894,  A.  Rusling  Rainear,  .M.  D.;  L895,  Win.  II.  Gominger, 
M.  I>.;  L896,  A.  B.  Hirsh,  M.  I>.:  and  L897,  Wm.  II.  Ziegler,  M.  I  >. 

The  society  meets  on  the  fourth  Tuesdays  of  January,  April, 
•hih  ;iikI  October,  and  since  iis  organization  ;i  aumber  of  papers 
have  been  read  on  medico-legal  subjects,  ;is  well  as  others  relating 
to  general  medicine. 

Another  society  for  the  dissemination  of  medico-legal  knowl- 
edge and  I  He  discussion  of  medico-legal  topics,  "The  Medical  Juris- 
prudence Society  of  Philadelphia,"  w;is  organized  in  L883  and  in- 
corporated in  18S8.  Much  valuable  work  was  done  by  it  during 
several  years,  although  the  meetings  were  discontinued  in  L891. 
The  society  was  one  of  the  first  to  agitate  for  a  law  establishing  a 
Stale  Board  of  Medical  Examiners.  Among  the  papers  read  during 
theactive  life  of  the  society  were  the  following:  "Trial  by  Jury," 
by  Henry  Hazelhurst,  Esq.;  "The  Case  of  Joseph  Taylor,"  by  C.  K. 
Mills,  M.  D.;  "The  Trial  of  Charles  Haines  for  Murder,"  by  II.  C. 
Wood,  M.  1).;  "The  Medico-Legal  Relations  of  Cdiocy,"  by  Hon. 
Win.  X.  Ashman;  "Visiting  the  Forum  of  the  Whipping  E*ost:  [a 
the  Cat-o'-Nine  Tails  a  Success?-  by  G.  M.  Bradfield,  M.  D.;  and 
T.  II.  Andrews,  M.  D.;  "Live  Birth  in  Its  Medico-Legal  Relations," 

by  J.  J.  Reese,  M.  I).;  "Will  Contests,"  by  W.  E.  Rex,  Esq.;  "F I 

Laws,"  by  Henry  Leffmann,  M.  1  >.;  "Microscopical  Examination  of 
Blood,"  by  Henry  F.  Formad;  "The  Trial  of  Lunatics,"  l>y  W.  W. 
Oarr,  Esq.;  and  "The  insanity  of  Oscar  Hugo  Webber,"  by  James 
Hendrie  Lloyd,  M.  D.  The  late  distinguished  l>r.  Samuel  I  >.  <Jr«»ss 
was  the  first  president.  The  following  note  regarding  the  first 
meeting  occurs  in  his  autobiography:     "l   attended  this  evening 


476  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  first  regular  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Jurisprudence 
Society,  of  which  I  was  elected  the  first  president.  A  better  title 
would  have  been  the  Medico-Legal  Society,  but  that  name  was 
already  in  the  possession  of  another  organization,  although  one 
for  a  different  object.  The  new  society  promises  well,  as  it  em- 
braces in  its  list  of  membership  a  number  of  distinguished  physi- 
cians and  lawyers,  stimulated  by  a  desire  to  work.  Dr.  John  J. 
Reese,  professor  of  Medical  Jurisprudence  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  delivered  an  excellent  and  exhaustive  address  on 
the  testimony  of  experts,  in  which  he  exposed  the  partisan  charac- 
ter of  such  witnesses,  the  inadequacy  of  their  testimony,  and  the 
positive  injury  which  they  often  do  to  the  cause  of  justice.  He 
recommended  the  adoption  of  the  Prussian  system,  which  consists 
in  the  appointment  by  the  government  of  thoroughly  educated  men, 
who  sit  on  the  bench  with  the  judges  and  assist  them  in  trying 
the  case  by  giving  a  proper  direction  to1  the  testimony  of  the  wit- 
nesses. In  1868,  in  an  address  which  I  delivered  before  the  Medi- 
cal Association,  as  its  president,  I  recommended  a  similar  plan, 
without  any  knowledge  that  it  was  in  force  in  Germany."  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  the  presidents  of  the  society:  1884,  Samuel  D. 
Gross,  M.  D.;  1885,  George  W.  Bicldle,  Esq.;  1886,  John  J.  Reese, 
M.  D.;  1887,  Hon.  Wm.  N.  Ashman;  1888,  Chas.  K.  Mills,  M.  D.;  1889, 
John  A.Clark,  Esq., and  Dr.  James  Hendrie  Lloyd,  most  of  the  presi- 
dents having  also  first  served  as  vice-presidents.  The  treasurers  were 
Hampton  L.  Carson,  Esq.,  and  Paschal  H.  Coggins,  Esq.  Dr.  Henry 
Leffmann  was  the  first  secretary  and  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Francis 
X.  Dercum.  The  recorder  of  the  society  was  Dr.  G.  Milton  Brad- 
field.  One  of  the  most  interesting  meetings  of  the  society  was  a 
joint  meeting  with  the  Philadelphia  Neurological  Society,  January 
2-4,  1887.  This  meeting  was  presided  over  by  S.  Weir  Mitchell, 
M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  and  the  subject  of  discussion  was  "Medico-Legal 
Questions  Concerning  Insanity." 

A  name  widely  known  both  in  this  country  and  abroad  is  that 
of  Professor  Theodore  G.  Wormley,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D.,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  medical  chemists  and  toxicologists  of  his  day. 
Ujjonthe  resignation  of  Prof.  R.  E.  Rogers,  in  1877,  he  was  elected 


IN  I'll  ii.ai  »i:i.riu  \. 


to  till  the  chair  of  (  hemistrj  in  i  In-  Medical  Department  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  IViinsx  i  vania,  which  he  occupied  until  his  death  in  l  - 
His  book  upon  "Micro-Chemist  ry  <>r  Poisons,  including  Their  Patho- 
logical, Physiological  and  Legal  Relation**  Adapted  to  the  Use  of 
the  Medical  Jurist,   Physician  and   General   Chemist,   Sew    Sfork, 
lMi7,"  is  ;i  standard  work.    "Medical  Chemistrj   and  Toxicoloj 
was  the  title  of  an  address  delivered  before  the  International  Medi- 
cal Congress,  held  in  Philadelphia  in  1870,  i<>  which  Congress  he  was 
a  delegate.     Professor  Woriulej  was  an  expert  in  mani   important 
•  nsi-s  involving  chemical  or  toxicological  questions.     As  a  witi 
he  was  careful,  lucid  and  positive,  and  great    weight   was  alv 
given  i  o  his  testimony. 

Another  Philadelphian  eminenl  for  his  work  in  toxicology  is 
Dr.  Henry  Leffmann,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Ph.  I  >.  Dr.  Leffmann  was  lec- 
turer  on  Toxicology  at  the  Jefferson  Medical  College  from  1875  to 
L883,  chemist  to  the  coroner  of  Philadelphia  from  L885  to  L897,  and 
he  has  also  been  chemist  bo  the  Dairy  and  Food  Commission  of 
Pennsylvania  since  L893.  He  has  been  port  physician  of  Philadel- 
phia twice,  namely,  from  L884  to  L887  and  from  L891  to  L892.  He  is 
i In- editor  of  the  fourth  edition  of  Reese's  text  book  on  Medical 
Jurisprudence  and  Toxicology,  and  has  taken  pari  in  many  well- 
known  medico-legal  eases  in  Philadelphia  as  an  expert  for  the  coin- 

uwealth  of  Pennsylvania.    Among  these  are  the  Philadelphia 

caseof  Alfred  Gerson,  twice  convicted  and  finally  executed  for  the 
murder  of  his  wife  and  mother-in-law:  the  case  of  Mrs.  Whiteline, 
convicted  and  executed  for  the  murder  of  her  children,  and  the  case 
of  H.  II.  Mudget,  alias  II.  II.  Holmes,  convicted  and  executed  for 
the  murder  of  P>.  1\  Pietzel.  I  >r.  Leffmann  is  Professor  of  Chemist  ry 
and  Toxicology  in  the  Woman's  .Medical  College  of  Pennsylvania. 

11.  ( '.  Wood,  M.  I  >.,  LL.  I).,  the  distinguished  medical  writer 
and  teacher,  has  figured  in  many  important  medico-legal  cases  in 
Philadelphia  and  elsewhere,  usually  in  cases  of  a  toxicological  or 
neurological  character,  as  the  Joseph  Taylor  case,  the  Meyer  poison- 
ing case  in  New  York,  the  Johnston  case,  tried  at  New  Bloomfield, 
Pennsylvania,  and  a  large  number  of  will  contests  and  questions 


478  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

involving  the  questions  of  injuries  inflicted  upon  the  nervous  sys- 
tem. 

Among  the  medical  men  of  Philadelphia  who  have  most  fre- 
quently appeared  in  the  courts  in  recent  years  are:  D.  Hayes  Agnew, 
M.  D.;  William  H.  Pancoast,  M.  D.;  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  M.  D.;  W.  W. 
Keen,  M.  D.;  J.  William  White,  M.  D.;  Henry  R.  Wharton,  M.  D.; 
Thomas  G.  Morton,  M.  D.;  Thomas  S.  K.  Morton,  M.  D.;  W.  Joseph 
Hearn,  M.  D.;  W.  W.  Xaylor,  M.  D.;  F.  X.  Dercum,  M.  D.;  W'harton 
Sinkler,  M.  I).;  James  Hendrie  Lloyd,  M.  D.;  C.  W.  Burr,  M.  D.; 
John  J.  Mitchell,  M.  D.,  and  J.  Chalmers  Da  Costa,  M.  D. 

The  author  of  this  paper  has  been  engaged  as  a  medical  wit- 
ness or  in  an  advisory  capacity  during  the  last  fifteen  years  in  a 
large  number  of  cases,  cases  involving  chiefly  the  questions  of  insan- 
ity, imbecility,  mental  incompetency  and  injuries  or  diseases  of 
the  nervous  system.  Among  the  most  important  of  these  were  the 
William  Meredith  case,  the  Ruddach  will  case,  the  Wistar  will  case, 
the  Weaver  case,  the  Joseph  Taylor  case,  the  Oscar  Hugo  Webber 
case,  the  Bartley  Peak  case,  the  Johnston  case  and  the  Elwood 
Rowan  case. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MEDIC  V  I.    I. Ill   iv  \  ri   RE    OF    I'll  1 1.  \  DELPH  I  A. 

There  are  various  methods  i  hat  mighl  be  adopted  by  the  writer 
upon  the  medical  literature  of  any  town  or  country.  In  the  first 
place,  he  inighl  catalogue  chronologically  everyl  hing  thai  lias  been 
published,  leaving  to  the  reader  i<>  separate  the  wheal  from  \\k- 
chaff.  Tins  would  be  equivalent  i«»  grouping  in  one  of  the  ca 
of  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians  nil  the  cards  on  which 
me  catalogued  the  works  of  Philadelphians,  the  books  being 
arranged  upon  the  shelves  in  a  corresponding  manner:  i.  e.,  with 

sole  reference  t<»  their  place  and  date  of  publication.    One  i d 

not  be  a  librarian  in  order  to  perceive  the  futility  of  such  a  plan. 
Another  method  would  consist  in  the  enumeration  of  the  works 
of  those  who  are  generally  acknowledged  t<>  have  been  the  leaders 
of  their  day,  and  many  of  whom,  I  venture  to  say,  would  have  been 
glad,  at  the  (dose  of  their  careers,  to  suppress  some  of  their  earlier 
publications.  Those  who  are  at  all  familiar  with  t  ho  contributions 
to  literature  which  have  emanated  from  Philadelphia  will  ai  once 
perceive  that  this  method  would  also  partake  too  largely  of  the 
nature  of  a  catalogue.  There  remains  the  method  which  we  shall 
adopt,  namely,  thai  of  indicating  the  landmarks  in  the  field  of 
medical  literature.  The  value  of  the  work  of  a  medical  writer  is 
not  dependent  upon  its  quantity,  a  single  an  icle  or  a  few  remarks 

in  the  course  of  a  discussion  being  sometimes  more  precious  than 
an  octavo  \oiuuie.  The  aim  of  the  writer  of  this  chapter  will, 
therefore,  he  to  indicate  ami  review  those  contributions  to  litera- 
ture which  have  been  described  as  Landmarks,  but  which  might 
more  appropriately  be  styled  the  stepping  stones  by  which  we 
have  risen  to  the  "higher  things"  of  the  present  day. 

The    oldest     Philadelphia    medical    treatise    e\tani     is    by    Dr. 

179 


480  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Thomas  Cadwalader,  and  is  entitled  An  Essay  on  the  West  India 
Dry-Gripes;  With  the  Method  of  Preventing  and  Curing  that  Cruel 
Distemper.  To  which  is  added,  An  Extraordinary  Case  in  Phys- 
ick. 

Philadelphia:  Printed  and  sold  by  B.  Franklin.     M.DCC.XLV. 

This  book  is  one  of  the  numerous  literary  treasures  collected 
by  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Lewis,  and  the  copy  in  the  Lewis  Library 
is  rendered  peculiarly  valuable,  from  the  collector's  standpoint, 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  one  containing  the  two  prefaces,  one 
of  which  was  suppressed.  These  prefaces  were  both  written  at 
Trenton,  New  Jersey,  on  the  same  day,  March  25,  1745,  and  there 
is  no  apparent  reason  for  the  suppression  of  either,  still  less  for 
the  publication  of  both. 

At  the  present  day,  the  book  is  only  of  value  to  the  bibliophile 
and  the  antiquarian.  From  a  scientific  standpoint,  it  is,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  open  to  a  species  of  criticism  which  is  always  unfair: 
namely,  that  of  a  more  enlightened  age  than  that  in  which  the 
author  wrote. 

The  term  Dry-Gripes  was  undoubtedly  applied  in  the  West 
Indies  to  cases  of  lead  colic,  which  were  unusually  prevalent  in 
that  region  on  account  of  the  practice  of  distilling  rum  in  leaden 
stills.  Cadwalader,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  regarded  his 
cases  as  due  to  lead  poisoning,  for  he  says:  "I  have  seen  in  England 
two  instances  of  the  Success  attending  the  Method  here  laid  down 
for  the  Dry-Gripes  in  the  Cholica  Pietonum,  arising  from  the  Fumes 
of  White  Lead;  which  gives  me  Reason  to  hope  that  by  a  further 
Trial  of  it  in  Europe,  it  would  be  found  as  beneficial  in  the  latter 
Distemper  as  in  the  former."  At  the  same  time,  he  does  not 
fail  to  note  the  occasional  occurrence  of  paralysis,  for  he  remarks: 
"We  frequently  observe  Persons  in  the  Dry-Gripes  to  lose  the  use 
of  their  Limbs  (the  Ancles  and  Wrists  becoming  weak  and  the 
Balls  of  their  Thumbs  sinking). " 

It  seems  highly  probable  that  Cadwalader  was  describing 
cases  of  lead  colic  without  recognizing  their  true  nature.  In  this 
connection,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  he  gives  the  preference  to 
subacid  liquors  for  persons  of  "weak,  relaxed  nerves:"  such   as 


l\    PHILADELPHIA.  i«u 

Rhenish  wine,  "Madeira  Wine  in  which  Rattlesnakes  are  infused, 
sour  and  weak  Punch  made  with  old  spirit,'*  etc. 

Fancy  a  Cadwalader  putting  rattlesnakes  in  Uis  Madeira!  It. 
is  to  be  hoped  thai  it  was  of  an  inferior  vintage,  and  that  the  good 
doctor  was  like  the  boti-vivant  of  whom  Weir  Mitchell  relates,  in 
his  "Madeira  Party,"  that,  when  dying,  lie  "declined  to  have  bis 
wine  whey  made  ou1  of  a  famous  old  Madeira,  saying  thai  it  was 
a  waste  of  a  good  thing  on  a  palate  which  was  past  knowing  sherrj 
from  port." 

The  "Extraordinary  Case  in  Physick,"  published  in  connection 
with  the  Treatise  <»n  the  Dry-Gripes,  is  a  remarkable  example  of 
mollities  ossium  in  a  woman  aged  forty,  who  had  previously  suf- 
fered from  diabetes  and  "intermitting  fever."  The  case  derives 
additional  interest  from  the  fact  that  its  study  was  completed  DJ 
a  careful  autopsy  performed  by  I >r.  <  'adwalader  on  April  L2,  1742. 

Bet  wee; i  i  he  publication  of  Cadwalader's  treatise  and  t  he  writ- 
ings of  Rush  there  is  little  for  the  chronicler  i<»  record,  bu1  that 
little  is  not  without  interest.  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  contributed  two 
short  papers  to  the  Medical  Observations  and  Enquiries,  of  which 
t  lie  first  is  "An  account  of  a  worm  bred  in  the  liver,  communicated 
in  a.  letter  to  Dr.  John  Clephane."  The  second  is  also  in  the  form 
of  a  letter  to  Dr.  Fothergill,  in  which  the  writer  reports  success 
from  the  use  of  the  bark  in  scrofulous  cases,  ;is  previously  recom- 
mended by  Fothergill.  The  account  of  the  worm  is  too  vague  l«» 
enable  one  to  hazard  an  opinion* as  to  its  nat  ure.  It  was  discharged 
from  the  bowel  in  two  fragments,  of  which  the  lirst  was  the  "fore- 
part, of  an  annular  worm  nine  inches  Long,  and  an  inch  in  diameter  J 
and  in  six  hours  more  ,  the  tail  and  other  parts  of  the  body,  amount- 
ing in  the  whole  to  20  inches  in  length,"  were  voided,  "it  was  of 
a  red  color  and  tilled  with  blood,  after  the  manner  of  a  leech." 
That,  the  worm  had  occupied  the  liver  was  inferred  from  the  appear- 
ance of  that  organ  post-mortem,  as  well  as  from  the  symptoms 
observed  during  the  life  of  the  patient.  The  parasite  was  senl  to 
Dr.  William  Hunter,  in  whose  collection  Dr.  Morgan  saw  it  many 
years  later.  The  most  interesting  of  Bond's  writings  is  his  "Intro- 
ductory Lecture  to  a  Course  of  Clinical  observations  in  the  1'enn- 


482  HISTORY   OF  MEDICINE 

sylvania  Hospital,  delivered  there  the  third  of  December,  1766." 
This  lecture  is  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  and  is  an  eloquent  plea  in  favor  of  the  inestimable  advan- 
tages of  clinical  instruction. 

In  the  first  volume  of  the  Medical  Observations  and  Inquiries 
is  "A  Relation  of  a  Cure  Performed  by  Electricity,  from  Dr.  Cad- 
walader  Evans,  Student  in  Physic  at  Philadelphia.  Communicated 
Oct.  21,  1751."  This  case  deserves  particular  mention,  not  only 
because  it  was,  probably,  the  first  in  which  electricity  was 
employed  in  the  treatment  of  hysteria,  but  also  because  the  elec- 
trician was  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  patient  was  a  woman 
about  21  years  of  ago,  who  had  suffered  from  convulsions  for  ten 
years.  Finding,  she  says,  that  "death  was  more  desirable  than 
life,  on  the  terms  I  enjoyed  it,"  I  "went    to    Philadelphia,  the 

beginning  of  Sept.,  1752,  and  applied  to  B.  Franklin." 

"I  received  four  shocks  morning  and  evening;  they  were  what  they 
call  200  strokes  of  the  wheel,  which  fills  an  eight-gallon  bottle  and 
indeed  they  were  very  severe.  On  receiving  the  first  shock,  I  felt 
the  fit  very  severe,  but  the  second  effectually  carried  it  off,  and 
thus  it  was  every  time  I  went  through  the  operation;  yet  the  symp- 
toms gradually  decreased,  till  at  length  they  entirely  left  me.  I 
staid  in  town  but  two  weeks,  and,  when  I  went  home,  B.  Franklin 
was  so  good  as  to  supply  me  with  a  globe  and  bottle,  to  electrify 

myself  every  day  for  three  months." "I  now  enjoy  such  a  state 

of  health  as  I  would  have  given  all  the  world  for,  this  time  two 
years,  if  it  had  been  in  my  power,  and  I  have  great  reason  to  hope 
it  will  continue." 

There  are  no  comments  from  B.  Franklin,  but  it  is  scarcely 
to  be  supposed  that  even  he  could  have  been  at  that  time  aware 
that  suggestion  is  far  more  potent  in  its  action  upon  the  nervous 
system  than  electricity  in  any  form. 

If  Dr.  John  Redman  had  left  no  literary  remains  except,  his 
graduating  thesis — De  Abortu — it  would  have  amply  sufficed  to 
stamp  him  as  a  scholar.  Of  this  thesis,  the  library  of  the  College  of 
Physicians  possesses  a  beautiful  copy,  which  was  printed  at  Leyden 
and  dedicated  to  William  Allen,  John  Kearsley,  whom  he  styles 


IN   I'lin.  \i»i:i.rin.\.  188 

his   Maecenas   ("Maeeenati   buo   id   perpetuum   colendo")j   Thomas 
Bourne  and  Joseph  Redman,  his  brother.     1 1  is  prefaced  bj  the  s 
tenee  from  Boerhaave:    Nulla  est  quae  pulchriora  labornm  praemia 
cultoribus  persolvit  (]uani  medica  Hapientia. 

At  the  stated  meeting  of  the  ( Vdlege  of  Physicians  on  Septem- 
ber  7,  17!).".,  Dr.  Redman  read  an  account  <»i  the  yellow  fever  epi- 
demic which  prevailed  in  Philadelphia  in  the  autumn  of  1  7' '•'_'.  This 
paper  remained  in  manuscript  until  L865,  when  it  was  printed  bj 
order  of  tin-  college.  Ii  is  certainly  rare  for  ;i  posthumous  honor 
of  iliis  kind  to  be  conferred  upon  ;i  medical  writer.  At  the  present 
day,  ii  is  ,i  commonly  accepted  fact  that  the  popularity  of  n  book 
expires  w  iih  its  author.  The  chief  remaining  contribution  of  Red- 
man  i<>  literature  is  a  Defense  of  Inoculation,  which  seems  i<>  have 
decided  in  the  affirmative  a  controversy  that  had  been  waged  con- 
cerning the  benefits  of  thai  practice. 

The  inaugural  theses  <>("  Shippen,  Morgan,  Knlm  and  Rush  are, 
from  an  historical  standpoint,  among  the  choicest  works  in  the 
library  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Inn,  in  addition,  they  poss<  se 
a  value  which  is  more  or  less  intrinsic.  They  were  all  published  at 
Edinburgh,  ami,  as  a  matter  <>l'  course,  are  in  Latin.  Their  dates 
ami  titles  are  as  follows: 

Thesis  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  Jr.,  De  Placentae  'inn  utero 
ih'xii.     Edinburgi:  apud  Balfour,  Hamilton  el    Neill,  1761. 

Thesis  of  I  >r.  John  Morgan,  1  >e  Puopoiesi  sive  Tentamen  Medi- 
cn m  inaugural e  de  Puris  Confectione.  Edinburgi:  cure  Typis  Aea- 
demicis,  L763. 

Thesis  of  Dr.  Adam  Kuhn,  he  Lavatione  Frigida.  Edinburgi: 
apud  Balfour,  Auld  el  Smellie,  17»'»7. 

Tin-sis  el'  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  he  Coctione  ciborum  in  ventri- 
culo.     Edinburgi:  Balfour,  Auld  et  Smellie,  1768. 

of  the  above,  the  thesis  of  Morgan  is  by  far  the  most  inter  g 
ing,  tor  it  maintains  a  theory  concerning  the  formation  of  pus 
which  was  corroborated  more  than  a  century  later  by  the  research*  s 
of  Oohnheim.  This  is  manifest  from  the  following  extract:  "Hoc 
mea  speciale  habet,  i>ns  nempe  neque  in  sanguine  Deque  extra  vasi 
generari,  sed  in  ipsis  yasis  Lnflammatis;  et  vasorum  mutationes  al> 


484  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

inflamniatione  inductas,  es.se  causas  eflicientes  qiue  virtute 
quadam  secretoria,  pus  e  sanguine  eliciunt." 

Concerning  this  question,  the  late  Dr.  George  W.  Norris,  in  his 
classical  work  on  the  Early  History  of  Medicine  in  Philadelphia, 
remarks : 

"That  he  was  the  first  to  announce  this  doctrine  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  The  claim  to  it  has  been  usually  awarded  to  John  Hunter; 
but  Mr.  Curry,  a  teacher  of  Anatomy  of  Guy's  Hospital,  in  1817, 
after  most  careful  investigation,  has  adjudged  it  to  Dr.  Morgan, 
who,  he  says,  'discussed  the  question  in  his  Inaugural  Discourse 
with  great  ingenuity,  and  I  can  find  no  proof  that  Hunter  taught, 
or  even  adopted,  such  an  opinion  until  a  considerably  later  period' 
(London  Med.  and  Phys.  Jouru.,  Vol.  XXXVIII,  1817).  The  various 
views  which  have  prevailed  on  the  origin  and  formation  of  pus 
since  that  period,  form  a  curious  study,  and  now,  after  more,  than 
a  century,  Cohnheim  (Virchow's  Archiv.,  Vol.  XXXVIII)  has  dem- 
onstrated that  the  white  corpuscles  do  actually  escape  from  the 
intact  vessels,  and  contribute,  to  a  considerable  extent,  to  the  for- 
mation of  pus." 

The  most  interesting  of  Morgan's  writings,  from  a  medical 
standpoint,  is  his  account  "of  a  living  snake  in  a  horse's  eye,  and  of 
other  unusual  productions  of  animals.  By  John  Morgan,  M.  D., 
F.  K.  S.,  London,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic, 
Philadelphia"  (a). 

Dr.  Morgan,  in  this  paper,  gives  an  accurate  description  of  a 
living  filaria  in  the  eye  of  a  horse  that  was  on  exhibition  on  Arch 
street,  between  Sixth  and  sSeventh  streets.  He  refuses  to  discuss 
the  question  of  the  path  by  which  the  animal  gained  access  to  the 
eye,  but  refers  to  several  other  cases  of  animal  parasites,  and  men- 
tions having  had  more  than  one  case  of  guinea  worm  (filaria  Medi- 
nensis)  under  his  care  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  He  also 
refers  to  the  worm  "bred  in  the  liver  of  Mrs.  Holt  in  this  city  about 
thirty  years  ago"  (b),  and  mentions  having  seen  it  in  the  anatomical 
cabinet  of  Dr.  William  Hunter  ten  years  previously. 

(a)  Trans.  Am.  Philos.  Soc,  Vol.  II,  p.  3S3. 

(b)  Case  of  Dr.  Cadwalader  Evans,  above  referred  to. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

In  L878  Dr.  Charles  S.  Turn  bull  exhibited  before  the  Philadel- 
phia County  Medical  Society  ;i  horse  in  whose  eye  ;i  filaria,  several 
iiiclh  s  long,  could  be  plainly  seen  (c),  and  stated  thai  this  case  made 
the  third  observed  in  iliis  country,  the  firsl  having  been  reported 
to  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  September  26, 1783,  by  Judge 
Francis  Elopkinson.  This  is  an  error.  Under  the  title  of  "An 
accounl  of  ;i  worm  in  ;i  horse's  eye,"  Hopkinson  describes  the  same 
case  thai  was  studied  by  Morgan.  Hopkinson's  paper  apparently 
antedates  thai  of  Morgan,  for  ii  appears  on  p.  L83  of  the  second 
volume  of  the  Transactions,  while  Morgan's  paper  is  mi  p.  383.  <  >n 
closer  inspection,  however,  ii  appears  thai  Morgan's  paper  was  read 
on  June  •""»,  1782,  and  Hopkinson's  on  September  lit;,  I7s:t. 

There  are  several  other  papers  by  Morgan  in  the  second  volume 
of  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  of  which  the  mosl  important 
is  on  the  "Art of  Making  Anatomical  Preparations  by  ( Jorrosion."  In 
1hix  method  of  preparing  anatomical  specimens  lie  was  an  adept. 
lie  acquired  his  knowledge  of  the  process  from  the  Hunters,  who, 
in  their  turn,  had  been  instructed  in  ii  by  a  Dr.  Nicholls.  Morgan 
claims  the  credit  of  having  introduced  this  method  into  France, 
,  and,  doubtless,  with  justice,  for  M.  Sue,  in  his  Anthropomotie, 
acknowledges  having  acquired  it  from  him  id). 

This  chapter,  as  announced  at  its  beginning,  is  not  intended  as 
a  catalogue  of  literary  productions,  I  mi  no  notice  of  Morgan's  work 
could  be  regarded  as  complete  without  at  least  a  reference  t<>  his 

"Discourse  upon  the  Institution  of  Medical  Schools  iu  America," 
and  his  celebrated  "Vindication  of  His  Public  Character  in  the 
siat  ion  of  Director-General  of  the  Military  Hospitals."  The  la  id  r 
is  sufficiently  discussed  in  another  pari  of  this  work,  and  besides 
its  interest  is  more  of  an  historical  and  polemical  than  of  a  medical 
character.  The  discourse,  however,  is,  to  use  the  words  of  Noil  is. 
a  "remarkable  production,  and  should  he  republished  and  circu- 
lated as  an  act  of  justice  to  his  memory.  Although  the  science  has 
advanced  immeasurably  since  thai  day,  his  enlarged  views  of  what 

(c)    Medical  and  Surgical   Reporter,  Oct.  26,   L878. 

eh  Mods.  Morgan,  Docteur  en  Medicine  ne  la  facultC  d'Ediinbourg  en  a 
donn€  une  description  exacte  a  l'Academi<  Royale  fle  Chlrurgie  el  e'est  de  Inl  <\u<- 
,i<>  tlens  l'.-irt  de  preparer  ces  parties." 


48G  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

is  required  of  a  medical  practitioner  by  preliminary  education,  his 
high-toned  sentiments  regarding  its  practice,  honors  and  emolu- 
ments, his  recommendations  of  clinical  teaching  and  hospital 
instruction,  his  recital  of  the  years  of  labor  spent  by  him  in  prepara- 
tion for  its  active  duties,  in  addition  to  its  historical  value,  all  make 
this  now  very  rare  tract  worthy  of  such  attention." 

Thus  we  conclude  our  notice  of  the  works  of  the  most  interest- 
ing character  in  the  history  of  Philadelphia  medicine.  Exception 
may  be  taken  to  this  statement  concerning  Morgan,  for,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  the  impression  derived  from  the  study  of  a  character 
depends,  to  a  large  extent,  upon  the  tastes  and  general  mental  con- 
stitution of  the  student.  We  venture,  however,  to  assert  unquali- 
fiedly that  Benjamin  Rush,  whose  writings  we  are  now  about  to 
notice,  is  the  most  remarkable  character,  not  only  in  the  annals 
of  Philadelphia,  medical  history,  but  in  those  of  the  entire  continent. 
Such  is  the  testimony  of  all  who  have  studied  the  works  of  this 
great  man,  and  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  rise  from 
their  perusal  bewildered  as  to  his  statements  concerning  the 
etiology  of  disease,  skeptical  as  to  the  diagnosis  of  his  cases,  and 
positivery  aghast  at  his  therapeutics! 

The  question  whether  pleasure  and  profit  may  be  derived  from 
a  study  of  Push's  writings  is  one  that  should  be  answered  emphat- 
ically in  the  affirmative.  For  beauty  and  clearness  of  style,  vigorous 
expression  and  copious  and  apt  illustration,  they  are  undoubtedly 
unsurpassed.  In  addition,  they  contain  numerous  references  to 
distinguished  men  of  his  time,  which  will  always  be  read  with  inter- 
est. For  these  reasons  they  deserve  to  be  ranked  as  classics.  On 
the  other  hand,  since  they  were  written  before  the  days  of  Louis, 
Laannec,  Bright  and  Gerhard,  the  reader  who  consults  them  with 
a  view  of  obtaining  information  concerning  the  pathology,  diag- 
nosis and  treatment  of  disease,  must  of  necessity  be  disappointed. 
With  reference  to  the  latter,  the  thought  constantly  arises  that 
many  of  his  "cures"  must  have  been  imaginary,  in  that  his  treat- 
ment was  based  upon  a  mistaken  diagnosis.  How  else  can  we 
explain  the  recovery  of  the  "Methodist  minister"  in  the  "inflam- 
matory" stage  of  consumption,  whom  he  bled  fifteen  times  in  the 


IN    PHILADELPHI  v. 

course  "i  sis  weeks,  removing,  at  each  bleeding,  not  less  than  eight 
ounces;  or  that  of  the  other  "citizen  of  Philadelphia,"  supposed  t" 
be  suffering  from  the  same  disease,  whom  lie  Ided  eight  times  in 
two  weeks,  and  "with  the  happiest  effects?"  (>n  this  account  also 
it  is  permissible  to  question  uis  statement  (in  his  Essay  on  <  >hl  Age) 
that  "Dr.  I'iji nUlin  bad  two  successive  vomieas  in  his  lungs  before 
be  was  l<»  years  old,"  and  even  that  Rush  himself,  between  his 
eighteenth  and  forty-third  years,  bad  "occasionally  been  afflicted 
with  many  of  the  symptoms"  of  pulmonary  phthisis. 

Dr.  Rush's  principal  contributions  to  literature  were  the  fol- 
lowing: 

1.  M<-<lic;il  Inquiries  and  Observations,  published  between  L789 
and  1804.  In  L805  a  second  edition  in  four  volumes  was  printed, 
and  in  1809,  a  third.  The  fifth  edition  ("four  volumes  in  two")  was 
printed  in  1818. 

2.  A  volume  of  Essays,  Literary,  Moral  and  Philosophical. 
They  were  originally  published  in  various  periodicals  and  were  col- 
lected in  one  volume  in  1798. 

3.  Medical  Enquiries  and  Observations  on  Diseases  of  the  Mind, 
one  volume,  1812. 

In  addition  he  published  six  introductory  lectures,  "Sermons 
to  Young  Men  on  Temperance  and  Health,"  two  Essays  Against 
Negro  Slavery,  and  numerous  articles  in  medical  journals  and  iu 
the  newspapers,  the  latter  mostly  on  literary  and  political  subje<  ts, 
and  annotated  the  works  of  Sydenham,  Pringle,  Cleghoru  and 
Hillary. 

Scarcely  one  of  the  numerous  papers  contained  in  the  Medical 
Inquiries  and  Observations  can  be  read  without  practical  advan- 
tage to  the  physician  of  the  present  day,  while  such  essays  as  the 
"Natural  History  of  Medicine  Among  the  Indians*'  and  the 
"Account  of  the  Influence  of  the  Military  and  Political  Events  of 
the  American  Revolution  Upon  the  Human  Body,"  will  always  be 
ranked  among  the  most  important  of  medical  classics,  in  the 
"Inquiry  Into  the  Relation  of  Tastes  and  Aliments  t«>  Each  Other," 
t  here  are  statements  concerning  diet  which  the  experience  of  recent 
vears  has  confirmed,  and  suggestions  which  vet  remain  to  be  tested. 


488  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Probably  the  best  temperance  lecture  ever  written  (the  best  because 
both  forcible  and  temperate)  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Inquiry  Into  the 
Effects  of  Ardent  Spirits/'  although  it  is  open  to  question  whether 
Rush's  interpretation  of  the  Legend  of  Prometheus,  which  is  con- 
tained in  it,  is  correct.  "The  Fable  of  Prometheus,"  he  says,  "on 
whose  liver  a  vulture  was  said  to  be  preying  constantly,  as  a  pun- 
ishment for  his  stealing  fire  from  heaven,  was  intended  to  illustrate 
the  painful  effects  of  ardent  spirits  upon  that  organ  of  the  body."' 

From  an  historical  point  of  view  the  most  valuable  chapters  in 
the  Inquiries  and  Observations  are  those  on  the  yellow  fever  as  it 
appeared  in  Philadelphia,  either  in  epidemic  or  sporadic  form,  from 
1793  to  1805  inclusive,  and  of  them  all,  the  most  intensely  interest- 
ing and  most  pathetic  is  that  in  which  the  writer  depicts  his  state 
of  body  and  mind  during  the  prevalence  of  the  fever.  In  making 
this  record  he  wrote  as  a  philosopher  recording  his  sensations,  both 
mental  and  physical,  but  at  the  same  time,  and  unconsciously,  he 
has  told  a  tale  of  heroic  self-sacrifice  that  is  perhaps  unparalleled  in 
medical  annals.  His  daily  walks  at.  this  time  were  in  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death,  and  his  nights  were  such  as  to  make  him  long 
for  the  morning  with  its  inevitable  horrors.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  English  language  more  touching  than  his  account  of  the  death 
of  his  sister.  Surely  no  one  could  read  it  aloud  without  a  voice 
broken  with  emotion  and  eyes  suffused  with  tears.  "On  the  first 
day  of  October,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  my  sister  died.  I 
got  into  my  carriage  within  an  hour  after  she  expired  and  spent  the 
afternoon  in  visiting  patients.  According  as  a  sense  of  duty,  or  as 
grief,  has  predominated  in  my  mind,  I  have  approved  and  disap- 
proved of  this  act  ever  since.  She  had  borne  a  share  in  my  labors. 
She  had  been  1113'  nurse  in  sickness  and  my  casuist  in  my  choice  of 
duties.  My  whole  heart  reposed  itself  in  her  friendship.  Upon 
being  invited  to  a  friend's  house  in  the  country,  when  the  disease 
made  its  appearance  in  the  city,  she  declined  accepting  the  invita- 
tion, and  gave  as  a  reason  for  so  doing  that  I  might  possibly  require 
her  services  in  case  of  my  taking  the  disease,  and  that,  if  she  were 
sure  of  dying,  she  would  remain  with  me,  provided  that,  by  her 
death,  she  could  save  my  life." 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

This  passage  alone,  and  there  are  others  like  it  in  liis  w  i-ii  in 
is  sufficient  to  prove  thai   Rush  was  one  of  those  pare  natures  in 
which  the  finest  sensibility  is  combined  with  indomitable  courage. 

From  a  practical  standpoint  the  most  remarkable  of  Rush's 
writings  is  his  Defense  of  Blood-letting,  in  which  In-  s<-t  s  forth,  ;is  be 
understood  them,  the  indications  for  and  againsl  bleeding.  The 
student  rises  from  the  perusal  of  this  chapter  with  the  half-formed 
conviction  that  Rush  regarded  the  blood,  as  lie  undoubtedly  did  the 
bile,  ;is  an  excrementitious  fluid.  It.  is  all  very  well  for  Rush  and 
his  i  lid  iscri  m  ilia  I  ing  admirers  I  <>  say  I  hat  he  did  not  bleed  a  patient 
because  of  I  he  name  of  I  he  disease  or  as  a   matter  Of  COUrse,  hill    I  he 

fact  remains  that  he  bled  him,  and,  as  a  rule,  copiously.  I  [e  refers 
with  approval  to  the  fact  thai  "l>r.  Physick  drew  ninety  ounces  by 
weight  from  l>r.  Dewees,  in  a  sudden  attack  of  the  apoplectic  state 
of  fever,  at  one  bleeding,  and  thereby  restored  him  so  speedily  i<» 
health  t  hat  he  "was  able  to  attend  to  his  business  in  three  days  after- 
wards." Truly  a  most  desirable  result,  especially  for  the  pregnant 
women  who  doubtless  imagined,  as  do  their  descendants  of  to-day, 
t  hat  their  delivery  could  not  be  accomplished  in  the  absence  of  their 
favorite  accoucheur.  The  question,  however,  which  arises  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  wish  to  profit  by  Rush's  teaching  is,  what  does 
he  mean  by  such  terms  as  the  "apoplectic  state  of  fever?"  h  is 
impossible  to  say,  ami  the  fact  is  that  our  methods  of  diagnosis  ami 
oui-  entire  nosology  are  so  radically  different  from  those  of  Kush's 
day  that  we  can  learn  little  or  nothing  from  his  statements  con- 
cerning the  indications  for  blood-letting.  For  the  same  reasons  we 
have  no  just  balance  in  which  to  weigh  his  claims  of  its  efficacy, 
and,  therefore,  we  avoid  a  discussion  which  must  necessarily  be 
futile.  I  l  is  in  the  Defense  of  Blood-letting  that  is  to  be  foil  ml  t  hat 
remarkable  passage,   where   Rush   expresses  a    hope   which,   in    the 

lijjdit  of  later  events,  might  almost  be  culled  a  premonition,  of  the 
discovery  of  anaesthetic  drugs:  "I  have  expressed  a  hope  in  another 
place  that  a  medicine  would  be  discovered  that  should  suspend 
sensibility  altoget  her,  and  leave  irritability  or  t  he  powers  of  motion 
unimpaired,  and  thereby  destroy  labour  pains  altogether." 

The  work  on  the  Diseases  of  the  .Mind  appeared   in    lML'.  one 


400  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

year  before  the  death  of  the  author.  It  went  through  five  editions, 
and  was  for  many  years  the  only  systematic  American  treatise  upon 
the  subject.  Of  this  work  the  distinguished  English  alienist,  Dr. 
Hack  Tuke,  says  that  if  Rush  had  written  nothing  else,  it  "would 
have  given  him  an  enduring  name  in  the  republic  of  letters."  Xo 
discriminating  reader  can  peruse  the  works  of  Rush  without  being 
charmed  with  his  style,  the  beauty  of  which  is  as  difficult  to  define 
as  that  of  the  symphony  of  a  master  musician.  However  hard  to 
define,  there  is  no  question  as  to  its  source.  It  is  the  product  of  a 
mind  trained  in  the  classics,  versed  in  the  literature,  and  especially 
the  poetry,  of  the  English  language,  and  endowed  by  nature  with 
an  unusual  degree  of  taste,  sensibility  and  imagination. 

Contemporary  with  Rush,  there  were  numerous  other  writers 
upon  yellow  fever,  which  was  naturally,  at  that  time,  the  most 
absorbing  topic  of  medical  discourse.  The  most  prominent  of  these 
lesser  lights  was  William  Currie,  who  was  born  in  1754.  There 
are  conflicting  accounts  of  the  latter  years  of  his  life.  According  to 
Xorris,  in  1818,  he  "sank  into  a  state  of  fatuity  and  so  continued 
till  his  death  in  1829."  On  the  other  hand,  Ruschenberger  states 
that.  Currie  "addressed  a  bright  communication,  December  (>,  1820, 
to  the  joint  committee  of  the  City  Councils  on  the  yellow  fever  of 
that  year.  He  became  hopelessly  childish  later,  and  so  continued 
till  his  death  in  1828."  Another  error  in  connection  with  the  history 
of  Currie  has  been  detected,  and,  so  far  as  possible,  rectified  by  the 
writer.  In  the  Index  Catalogue  of  the  Surgeon-General's  office,  a 
thesis,  "DePhthisi  Pulmonali.  Edinburgh  Balfour,  Auld  et  Smellie, 
1770,''  heads  the  list  of  Currie's  works.  It  appeared  evident  that 
this  must  be  a  mistake,  since  the  said  thesis  was  published  when 
its  reputed  author  was  but  sixteen  years  old.  Resides,  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  Currie  ever  received  a  degree  from  any  school,  and 
Ruschenberger  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that,  in  none  of  his  numer- 
ous works,  did  he  ever  affix  the  letters  M.  D.  to  his  name.  To  settle 
the  question,  inquiry  was  made  at  the  Surgeon-Generars  office,  with 
the  following  result: 

"Deai-  Sir: — Replying  to  your  communication  of  7th  insi.,  I  beg 
to  return  thanks  for  calling  attention  to  an  error  in  the  Index  Cata- 


IN   PHILADELPHIA.  191 

logue,  under  the  name  of  VVillia.ni  Currie.  You  are  correct  in  your 
supposition  thai  the  author  of  the  thesis,  De  Phthisi  Pulmouali, 
la  I  in.,  L770,  was  other  than  Dr.  William  Currie  of  Philadelphia,  and 
th<*  error  has  been  noted  for  correction.  This  libra  r\  contains  noth- 
ing further  of  the  writings  of  William  Currie,  who  wrote  the  thesis, 
nor  have  we  been  aide  ti»  find  any  note  of  him  except  that  given  in 
the  Edinburgh  list  of  graduates,  L705  to  L845. 

"  N'i'iv  i  iiilv  yours, 

"J.  C.  MERRILL, 
"Major  and  Surgeon  ('.  s.  A.,  Librarian  8.  <i.  O." 
Currie's  principal  works  ;ir<'  the  following: 

1.  An  historical  accounl  of  the  climates  ;in<l  diseases  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  of  the  remedies  and  methods  of 
treatmenl  which  have  been  round  most  useful  and  efficacious,  par- 
ticularly in  those  diseases  which  depend  upon  climate  and  situa- 
tion. Printed  by  T.  Dobson,  al  the  Stone  House,  No.  +  1  South  Sec- 
ond st  reel,   17!)2. 

2.  A  Treatise  on  the  Synochus  [cteroides  or  Yellow  Fever,  as 
it  lately  apeared  in  the  <  'ity  of  Philadelphia,  etc.,  1 794. 

3.  Observations  on  the  <  'a uses  and  Cure  of  Remitting  or  Bilious 
Fevers  ....  and  an  appendix  exhibiting  facts  and  reflections  rela- 
tive to  the  Synochus  Ictei-oides  or  Yellow  Fever,  L798. 

(This  appendix  may  be  consulted  with  ureal  advantage  DJ 
those  interested  in  the  history  of  the  various  epidemics  of  yellow 
fever  in  Philadelphia.) 

4.  View  of  the  diseases  most  prevalent  in  the  I'liiled  Stales  of 
America  al  different  seasons  of  the  year.  With  an  accounl  of  the 
most  in i] trove*  1  met  hod  of  treating  them ;  L811. 

In  one  ol  his  publications,  "An  Impartial  Review,"  etc.,  l  i-'i. 
Currie  attacked  Rush's  doctrine  of  the  autochthonous  origin  of  yel- 
low fever.  Be  argued  forcibly  in  favor  of  iis  importation,  but,  un- 
fortunately for  his  fame,  he  became,  at  a  later  period,  convinced 
that  it  might  originate  in  this  country.  Rush  maintained  thai  yel- 
low fever  had  its  origin  in  decaying  vegetable  matter,  and  believed 

the   disease    to   he    nOU-COntagioUS,    while   <   urrie.    al    one    lillie.    held 


492  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

that  its  sole  source  was  from  abroad  and  was  from  first  to  last  a 
"contagionist." 

One  of  the  most  prolific  and  also  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  medi- 
cal authors  of  this  country  was  Dr.  Charles  Caldwell,  who  began 
his  literary  career  while  a  student  at  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, by  the  translation  from  the  Latin  of  Blumenbach's  Elements 
of  Physiology  (1795),  and  terminated  it  by  the  completion  of  his 
Autobiography  a  short  time  before  his  death  in  1853.  A  list  of 
Caldwell's  writings  occupies  more  than  seven  pages  of  his  Auto- 
biography. It  includes  biographical  memoirs,  reviews,  orations, 
criticisms,  translations,  articles  on  natural  history,  phrenology  and 
numerous  other  subjects.  It  has  been  estimated  that  these  various 
publications  would  amount  to  not  less  than  ten  octavo  volumes  of  one 
thousand  pages  each.  Caldwell  was  a  born  controversionalist,  con- 
stantly attacking  the  doctrines  of  others  or  defending  his  own,  and 
hence  the  influence  of  his  writings,  as  he  himself  acknowledges,  was 
of  necessity  "limited  and  evanescent''  (e).  Of  them  all,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  his  Life  of  General  Greene,  the  only  one  still  read 
is  his  Autobiography,  and  this  is  far  too  little  known.  It  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  interesting  books  in  medical  literature,  containing, 
as  it  does,  a  minute  history  of  a  physician  who,  from  his  earliest 
career,  was  in  intimate  relation  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished 
men  of  his  time.  It  is  more  correct  to  say  of  Caldwell  that  he  en- 
joyed the  hostility  of  his  acquaintances  than  that  he  enjoyed  their 
friendship,  for  his  natural  element  seems  to  have  been  hot  water. 
One  cannot  agree  with  Yandell  in  the  statements  that  Caldwell's 
Autobiography  has  added  nothing  to  his  fame  and  that  he  was 
"everywhere  unjust  to  the  memory  of  his  contemporaries."  There 
can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  it  will  be  read  with  increasing  inter- 
est as  time  goes  on,  while  the  interest  of  his  other  writings  and 
that  of  t lie  works  of  his  contemporaries  will  progressively  diminish. 
Caldwell  was  a  pioneer  in  many  directions.  He  was  the  first 
to  urge  through  the  press  the  introduction  of  the  Schuylkill  water 
into  the  city;  the  first  to  deliver  clinical  lectures  at  the  Philadelphia 
Almshouse;  and  the  first  to  advocate  the  use  of  the  trephine  in  cases 
(e)    Autobiography,  p.  239. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  193 

of  mania.  The  latter  suggestion]  however,  was  based  upon  the 
fallacious  teachings  of  phrenology.  The  character  of  Caldwell  is 
well  epitomized  by  the  late  l>.  Hayes  Agnew  in  his  liistory  of  the 
Philadelphia  Almshouse.  Il<-  was,  says  AgneWj  "a  man  unques- 
tionably of  remarkable  intellectual  force,  combined,  however,  with 
such  incongruous  elements  of  character  as  wer<  calculated  to  defeat 
the  besl  appointed  plans  of  ambition." 

The  character  and  abilities  of  the  early  teachers  in  the  Medica  I 
Departmenl  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  are  not  mere  tradi- 
tions based  upon  the  hero  worship  of  credulous  pupils,  bul  facts  that 
may  be  proved  by  reference  i<»  the  books,  and  especially  the  text- 
books, which,  amid  their  manifold  labors,  they  round  the  time  io 
write. 

In  L811  Prof.  Caspar  Wistar  published  his  "System  of  Anatomy 
for  the  Use  of  Students."  In  1825  the  third  edition  of  this  work 
was  published,  with  notes  and  additions  by  William  Edmonds 
Horner,  at  thai  time  adjunct,  professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania.  It  was,  subsequently,  "entirely  remodeled 
and  illustrated  by  more  than  two  hundred  engravings'"  by  Joseph 
Pancoast,  and  reached  a  ninth  edition.  In  its  various  tonus  it 
maintained  its  place  as  a  text-book  for  more  than  thirty  years. 

That  Wistar  was  not  a  mere  compiler,  but  a  close  observer  as 
well,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  was  the  "first  writer  on  Anatomy 
to  describe  accurately  the  extremities  of  the  ethmoid  bone,  which, 
previously,  had  been  supposed  to  belong  to  the  sphenoid,  and  hence 
they  have  ever  since  been  known  as  the  'pyramids  of  Wistar.'  ' 

Another  successful  text-book  of  the  same  period  is  the  Elements 
of  Surgery,  by  the  brilliant  .John  Syng  Dorsey,  which  first  appeared 
in  L813and  passed  through  four  editions,  two  of  which  were  posthu- 
mous. It  was  at  one  time  used  as  a  text-book  in  the  University  of 
Edinburgh.  1  torsey  also  deserves  mention  on  account  of  his  ingen- 
ious inaugural  essayon  the  lithontriptic  virtuesof  the  gastrin  Liquor. 
In  it  he  gives  an  account  of  his  treatment  'of  a  case  of  stone  in  the 
bladder  by  the  intra-vesical  injection  of  the  "gastric  Liquor  of  the 
hog,"  and  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  "in  cases  of  stone  of  recent 
date  the  gastric  liquor  would,  probably,  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks, 


494  HISTORY   OF  MEDICINE 

so  far  diminish  its  size  as  to  enable  the  patient  to  discharge  it 
through  the  urethra." 

A  more  voluminous  writer  than  either  of  the  two  last  men- 
tioned was  John  Redman  Coxe,  whose  first  work,  entitled  Practical 
Observations  on  Vaccination,  or  Inoculation  for  the  Cow-Pock, 
published  in  1802,  when  he  was  but.  twenty -nine  years  of  age,  is 
sufficient  to  make  his  fame  enduring.  Dr.  Coxe  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  to  be  successfully  vaccinated  in  Philadelphia,  the  virus  hav- 
ing been  sent  to  him,  through  Mr.  John  Yaughan,  by  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son. He  vaccinated  his  son,  Edward  Jenner  Coxe,  when  he  was 
twenty-three  days  old,  and  such  was  his  faitli  in  the  protective 
powers  of  vaccination  that  he  shortly  afterward  allowed  a  patient 
"on  the  eighth  day  of  an  ample  eruption  of  smallpox''  to  hold  the 
child  in  his  arms  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  immunity  from  the 
disease  was  thus  proved  to  be  complete. 

Dr.  Coxe  published  the  "American  Dispensatory  ....  com- 
prehending the  improvements  in  Dr.  Duncan's  second  edition  of  the 
Edinburgh  New  Dispensatory"  in  1806.  It  reached  a  ninth  edition 
in  1831.  In  1808  appeared  the  "Philadelphia  Medical  Dictionary, 
containing  a  concise  explanation  of  all  the  terms  used  in  Medicine, 
Surgery,  Pharmacy,  Botany,  Natural  History,  Chemistry  and 
Materia  Medica."  A  second  edition  of  the  Dictionary  was  issued  in 
1817.  A  comparison  of  Coxe's  slender  dictionary  with  the  bulky 
volumes  of  the  same  character  that  have  lately  appeared,  makes  it 
evident,  either  that  his  claim  to  have  included  all  the  terms  em- 
ployed in  the  medical  sciences,  is  erroneous  or  that  these  terms 
have  multiplied  at  a  remarkable  rate.  Dr.  Coxe's  erudition  is  per- 
haps best  displayed  in  his  "Inquiry  Into  the  Claims  of  Dr.  William 
Harvey  to  the  Discovery  of  the  Circulation  of  the  Blood,"  etc.  (1831). 
In  this  elaborate  treatise  he  discusses,  in  a  learned  manner,  a  ques- 
tion which  has  always  interested  the  minds  of  medical  scholars,  and 
especially  those  of  Philadelphia.  The  writings  of  William  Forbes, 
J.  M.  Da  Costa,  and  Henry  Chapman,  upon  the  same  subject  are 
doubtless  familiar  to  the  present  generation. 

In  1835,  Dr.  Coxe  issued  "An  Appeal  to  the  Public  and  Espe- 
cially to  the  Medical  Public  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Trustees  of 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  vacating  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Pharmacy."  This  pamphlet  is,  as  a  matter  of  eours<  . 
entirely  controversial,  and  is  largely  composed  of  correspondence 
bet  ween  i  In-  pari  ies  at  issue. 

Dr.  John  C.  Otto  is  an  example  of  the  fact  mentioned  al  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter,  viz.,  thai  the  value  of  I  li«"  work  of  a  1 1 1  •  -« I  i  - 
cal  writer  does  not  depend  upon  iis  quantity.  To  paraphrase  a 
sentence  df  Horace,  <  >i  t  o  was  undoubtedly  /"/ reus  literorum  CHltor  ct 
mfregueiis.  Nevertheless,  he  lias  immortalized  himself  by  a  short 
article  entitled  "An  Account  of  an  Hemorrhagic  Disposition  Exist- 
ing in  Certain  Families,"  which  appeared  in  the  Medical  Repository . 
Vol.  VI,  N<>.  1.  L803.  In  iliis  brief  paper,  Otto  points  out  the  chief 
characteristics  of  Haemophilia,  and  especially  its  hereditary  trans- 
mission through  the  females  of  a  family  t<»  their  male  descendants; 
ami  recommends  the  sulphate  of  soda  "in  ordinary  purging  d<»>.-. 
administered    two    or    three   days    in    succession. *'      This,    he    says, 

generally  stops  the  hemorrhages.  In  1805,  Otto  published  another 
paper  on  the  same  subject  in  Coxe's  Medical  Museum,  "detailing  the 
history  of  four  fatal  cases  of  hereditary  hemorrhage  occurring  in 
the  family  of  Benjamin  Binny,  of  Maryland.."  These  papers,  says 
Dr.  Isaac  Parrish  in  his  memoir  of  <>tto,  "were,  so  Car  as  I  am 
informed,  the  tirst.  which  had  appeared  upon  the  subject  of  this 
singular  idiosyncrasy,  and  gave  rise  to  <>t  hers  from  different  writers 
by  which  many  cm-ions  facts  were  developed."  In  his  admirable 
article  on  I  hemophilia  in  Ziemssen's  Encyclopaedia,  Vol.,  XVII, 
lniniermann  says  that  no  general  interest,  was  excited  <>n  this  sub- 
ject until  after  a  series  of  cases  had  been  reported  in  American 
journals.  "The  first  of  these  American  articles  appeared  in  the 
Medical  Repository  of  New  York  and  contained  an  account  by  Otto 
of  a  widespread  bleeder  family  in  which  t  he  disease  could  be  t  raced 
back  for  nearly  a  hundred  years." 

But  for  this  pioneer  article,  1  >r.  <  )t  to  would  only  be  remembered 
as  the  Successor  of  Rush  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  to  which  In- 
irave  his  services  as  at  tending  physician  i'nv  i  wenty-t  \\ ..  years. 

Dr.  Philip  Syng  Physick  certainly  did  not  acquire  his  title  of 
Father  of  American  Surgery  by  the  quantity  of  his  writings,  for,  as 


49(1  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

stated  by  Horner,  thirty  or  forty  pages  of  printed  type  would  prob- 
ably contain  them  all;  nor  by  their  quality,  for  he  left  nothing 
worthy  of  note  in  this  chapter.  His  title,  which  no  one  disputes, 
was  the  legitimate  result  of  his  preeminent  surgical  knowledge  and 
skill,  and  his  impressive  teachings  in  the  chair  of  Surgery  of  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  was  the  first  to  occupy. 

The  works  of  Dr.  William  Potts  Dewees  have  been  among  the 
most  successful  that  have  ever  been  published  in  Philadelphia. 
This  was  undoubtedly  due  to  their  intrinsic  merit,  for  it  was  not 
until  he  was  well  advanced  in  years  that  Dewees  was  in  a  position 
to  impose,  had  he  so  wished,  his  books  upon  the  medical  students  of 
his  day.  On  November  15,  1825,  he  was  elected  adjunct  to  the 
chair  of  Obstetrics,  at  that  time  occupied  by  Dr.  Thomas  C.  James, 
whose  failing  health  rendered  such  assistance  necessary.  Dr. 
Dewees  was  then  fifty-seven  years  of  age.  He  delivered  but  one 
course  of  lectures  (1834-35),  but  broke  down  in  an  attempt  to  deliver 
the  next  and  resigned  his  chair  on  the  10th  of  November,  1835. 

Writing  in  1842,  the  late  Prof.  Hugh  L.  Hodge  speaks  of  the 
''intrinsic  value"  of  Dewees'  System  of  Midwifery,  which,  says  he, 
"with  all  its  deficiencies,  probably  constitutes  now,  at  the  expiration 
of  twenty  years  from  its  original  publication,  the  best  practical  book 
in  our  profession."  The  tenth  edition  of  the  system  was  published 
in  1843. 

Dewees'  Treatise  on  the  Diseases  of  Females  also  went  through 
ten  editions  and,  according  to  Hodge,  was,  in  its  day,  "the  book  for 
reference  in  all  questions  of  practice  on  the  important,  delicate  and 
difficult  subjects  which  it  embraces."'  It  was  first  issued  in  1826, 
one  year  after  the  publication  of  his  Treatise  on  the  Physical  and 
Medical  Education  of  Children.  In  1830  he  published  a  work  on 
the  Practice  of  Medicine,  which,  although  it  reached  a  second  edi- 
tion, does  not  deserve  to  rank  with  the  works  previously  mentioned. 
Dr.  Dewees  was  not  a  precocious  writer.  He  was  well  advanced  in 
life  before  he  ventured  to  offer  the  results  of  his  large  and  varied 
experience  as  guides  to  his  fellow  practitioners,  and  this  is  doubt- 
less the  chief  reason  why  his  works  retained  their  authority  for 
so  long  a  period. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

The  fame  of  Nathaniel  Chapman  is  far  less  due  i  o  his  writii 
thai]  to  his  impressive  personality,  his  ability  as  ;i  teacher  and  his 
g<  ni;il  wit,  which  combined  to  make  him  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able men  in  the  medical  history  of  America.     1 1  is  perhaps  unnei 
sary  to  add  that  he  was  ;i  gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
a  man  of  honor,  to  whom  the  arts  of  the  trickster  wi  re  utterly  alii  n. 

Chapman's  most  important  work  is  his  Elements  of  Tin 
peutics  and  Materia  Medica,  of  which  the  first  edition,  issued  in 
1817,  was  dedicated  to  John  Syng  I  horsey,  his  successor  in  the  chair 
of  Materia  Medica,  The  subsequent  editions  were  dedicated  to  the 
medica]  students  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  The  first  edi- 
tion of  this  work  was  essentially  composed  of  Chapman's  lecture  s, 
as  they  were  delivered  to  his  classes  at  the  University.  The  later 
editions  were  enlarged  in  accordance  with  the  natural  growth  ol 
the  subject.  The  work  went  through  five  editions  and  was  \er\ 
popular.  L.  P.  STandell,  in  his  admirable  address  on  medical  litera- 
ture (f),  says  i  hat  he  "remembers  well  the  feeling  of  relief,  not  to  say 
delight,  with  which  he  turned  to  them  from  the  dry  treatises  oe 
Materia  Medica  and  the  drier  dispensatories  which  they  came  to 
supplant.'"  Chapman's  other  most  important  works  were  "Lectures 
on  the  More  [mportant  Diseases  of  the  Thoracic  and  Abdominal 
viscera/*  :!>•::  pp.,  8vo,  L844;  "Lect  ures  on  t  he  .More  [mportant  Erup- 
tive Fevers,  Hemorrhages  and  Dropsies,  and  on  the  Gout  and 
Rheumatism,"  44S  pp.,  8vo,  1844;  and  a  "Compendium  of  Lectur<  s 
on  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine." 

The  interest  excited  by  Chapman's  teaching  is  best  manifested 
at  the  present  day  by  the  elaborate  notes  of  his  lectures,  which  were 
taken  by  brilliant  students,  some  of  whom  subsequently  attained 
the  highest  honors  of  their  profession.  Among  such  students,  were 
I  S-eorge  B,  Wood,  John  K.  Mitchell,  and  John  Neil  I,  whose  notebooks 
are  preserved  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians.  Mitchell's 
noios  are  models  of  thoroughness  and  neatness,  but  are  unfortu- 
nately incomplete,  although  from  no  fault  of  his  own.  He  prepared 
an  index  and  abstract  in  which  the  cause  of  this  incompleteness  is 
pithily  explained.  Its  title  is  the  following:  "Index  to,  and 
id    Transactions,  [nternat.  Med.  Cong..   1876. 


498  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Abstract  of,  My  Xotes  on  the  Lectures  of  Professor  N.  Chapman, 
year  1816-17,  in  seven  volumes — lost  by  being  loaned." 

Samuel  Jackson,  like  Nathaniel  Chapman,  is  chiefly  remem- 
bered as  a  great  teacher  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  with 
which  he  was  connected  for  thirty-six  years.     His  contributions  to 
medical  literature  are  mostly  to  be  found  in  the  medical  journals 
of  Philadelphia,  and  especially  in  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences.     His  most  valuable  papers,  from  a  practical 
standpoint,  are  those  on  yellow  fever,  and  on  cholera;  the  former  be- 
ing contained  in  the  first  and  second  volumes  of  the  Philadelphia 
Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical  Sciences,  and  the  latter  in  the 
February  and  May  numbers  of  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences  for  1833.     In  1832  he  published  the  Principles  of  Medicine 
founded  on  the  Structure  and  Functions  of  the  Animal  Organism. 
Concerning  this  work  Carson  says:     "The  work  of  Dr.  Jackson  per- 
formed its  mission;  it  was  an  elementary  book  of  general  scope,  and 
when  scores  of  laborious  and  systematic  compilers  had  spread  their 
productions  broadcast  and  the  student  was  no  longer  at  a  loss  for 
condensed  sources  of  knowledge,  the  necessity  of  revising  and  con- 
tinuing it  no  longer  existed.     From  the  advance  of  science,  to  have 
revised  the  work  would  have  been  to  rewrite  it,  and  he  permitted 
it  to  be  superseded."     Dr.  Jackson's  last  paper  on  a  "Rare  Disease 
of  the  Joints"  was  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  July,  1870,  when  the  writer  was  83  years  of  age. 

The  next  to  follow  Dewees  as  a  writer  on  Obstetrics  and  Dis- 
eases of  Women  was  Charles  D.  Meigs  (1792-1869).  It  is  only  with 
reference  to  time,  however,  that  Meigs  can  be  said  to  follow  anyone; 
for,  as  regards  versatility  of  genius,  scope  of  learning  and  ability  in 
teaching,  he  is  second  to  none.  Meigs'  principal  works  are  the  fol- 
lowing: The  Philadelphia  Practice  of  Midwifery,  1838,  370  pp., 
Svo;  second  edition,  1842,  408  pp.,  Svo.  Woman,  Her  Diseases  and 
Eemedies,  1847,  670  pp.,  Svo.  This  was  written  in  the  form  of 
letters  to  medical  students  and  is  justly  regarded  as  "one  of  the 
most  original  medical  works  of  this  country."  It  passed  through 
four  editions.  Obstetrics,  the  Science  and  the  Art,  1849.  This, 
which  is  a  continuation  of  the  Philadelphia  "Practice  of  Midwifery, 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

passed  through  five  editions,  in  I  850  lie  published  a  work  of  211 
pages  <»n  Certain  Diseases  of  Children,  and  in  1854,  a  Treatise  "ii 
Acute  and  Chronic  Diseases  of  the  Neck  of  iii«-  Uterus.  In  L854,  be 
issued  ;i  work  "ii  Childbed  Fevers,  which,  lik<-  the  Treatise  on 
Woman,  Her  Diseases  and  Remedies,  was  written  In  the  form  of 
l •  - 1 ters  to  bis  class. 

Franklin  Bache  (1792-1864),  ih<-  great-grandson  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  will  be  remembered  <»n  account  of  his  work  on  the  0*.  S. 
Pharmacopoeia  and  the  0".  S.  Dispensatory  long  after  the  fad  that 
he  was  Professor  of  i  Chemistry  in  the  Jefferson  Hfedical  College  has 
been  forgotten.  In  association  with  George  B.  Wood,  he  took  an 
active  part  in  the  decennial  revisions  o"?  the  Pharmacopoeia  from 
1830  to  I860  inclusive.  The  undying  gratitude  of  the  profession  is 
due  to  these  distiii ^ nisi n-d  men  for  this  philanthropic  labor,  for  they 
"neither  expected  nor  received  any  other  recompense  than  the 
consciousness  of  duty  performed  and  public  benefit  conferred"    i 

Dr.  Bache's  contribution  to  the  Dispensatory  amounted  to  about 
one-third  of  the  volume,  and  was  concerned  chiefly  with  the  "•min- 
eral substances  and  those  resulting  from  purely  chemical  pro- 
cesses." This  was  a  lucrative  as  well  as  an  honorable  employment, 
for,  up  to  the  time  of  his  decease,  he  "had  received  the  proceeds 
accruing  to  him  from  the  sale  of  79,000  copies.'' 

The  contributions  to  medical  literature  of  Dr.  William  E. 
Horner  (1793-1853),  the  successor  of  Physick  in  the  chair  of 
Anatomy  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  although  no1  numer- 
ous, were  important.  According  to  the  list  collected  by  his  son-in- 
law,  the  late  Prof.  Henry  If.  Smith,  they  numbered  twenty-nine,  and 
appeared,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences.  He  is  besl  remembered  as  the  discoverer  of  the  tensor 
tarsi  muscle,  which  has  been  called  in  his  honor,  the  muscnlns 
Hornerii,  although  his  investigations  of  the  intestinal  lesions  of 
cholera  are,  to  the  practitioner,  of  much  greater  importance.  The 
methods  which  he  employed  in  these  researches  were  both  novel 
and  ingenious.  "He  first  made  a  minute  injection  of  the  mucous 
membrane  and  then  examined  it  under  water  with  large  magnifying 


(g)    Blog,  memoir  of  Dr.  ETrankUD  Bache,  by  George  B.  Wood,  M.  D. 


500  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

lenses;  and  afterward  on  the  object-glass  of  the  microscope."  By 
means  of  this  technique  he  was  enabled  to  demonstrate  for  the  first 
time  that  "entire  desquamation  of  the  epithelium  of  the  small  intes- 
tines is  a  cardinal  and  especial  anatomical  lesion  in  cholera." 

Although  perhaps  somewhat  irrelevant,  the  writer  cannot 
refrain  from  the  statement  that  the  life  of  Horner  affords  a  remark- 
able example  of  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  under  difficulties.  He 
was  of  frail  physique  and,  in  addition,  the  extracts  from  his  journal 
published  by  Samuel  Jackson,  show  him  to  have  been  a  man  who. 
while  outwardly  serene,  was,  throughout  his  life,  oppressed  by  the 
profoundest  melancholy.  His  indomitable  will  enabled  him  to 
achieve  a  brilliant  triumph  over  obstacles  which  most  men  would 
have  found  insuperable. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  there  is  scarcely  a  biographical  record 
of  Dr.  Bene  La  Eoche  (1795-1872),  who  was  one  of  the  most  scholarly 
writers  of  this  city,  and  a  member  of  numerous  learned  societies, 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  According  to  Kuschenberger,  a  memoir 
of  Dr.  La  Eoche  was  written  by  Dr.  Joseph  G.  Xancrede,  but  this  is 
a  mistake,  for  Xancrede  died  in  1856  and  La  Eoche  in  1872.  The 
memoir  written  by  Xancrede,  which  is  to  be  found  in  Simpson's 
Lives  of  Eminent  Philadelphians,  was  of  La  Boche's  father.  The 
only  memoir  of  this  distinguished  author  that  I  have  been  able  to 
find  is  contained  in  Vol.  XXIV  of  the  Transactions  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  of  which  it  occupies  but  one  page.  His  work 
on  yellow  fever  (1855)  is,  however,  a  colossal  monument  to  his  mem- 
ory. It  has  been  aptly  characterized  as  a  "vast  storehouse  of 
observation  and  research,"  and  is  certainly  one  of  the  most 
elaborate  monographs  in  the  English  language.  His  work  on 
"Pneumonia;  Its  Supposed  Connection,  Pathological  and  Etiologi- 
cal, with  Autumnal  Fevers"  (1851),  is  also  a  "monograph  of  endur- 
ing interest." 

Joseph  G.  Xancrede  (1793-1856)  deserves  mention  as  the 
reporter  of  the  first  case  of  Cesarean  section  in  Philadelphia  (Amer- 
ican Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  16, 1835).  The  patient  was 
operated  on  by  Prof.  William  Gibson,  and  both  mother  and  child 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  501 

were  saved.     The  latter,  as  I  am  informed  by  Dr.  Roberl  I '.  Harris, 
is  si  ill  living,  ;i  i  the  age  of  sixty-two. 

The  reputation  of  Dr.  [saac  Hays(179(5  L879)as  a  journalist 
so  greal  as  to  obscure  bis  achievem  »ntH  in  other  fields,  although 
the  latter  alone  would  have  sufficed  i  <»  make  liim  famous.  Although 
he  was  a  worker  and  an  organizer  rather  than  ;i  writer,  liis  contri- 
butions i<>  the  literature  of  liis  specialty  (ophthalmology  (are  worthy 
of  the  highest  praise.  Fie  is  said  by  Alfred  Si  i  1 1  <  i<>  liave  recorded 
the  lifsi  case  of  astigmatism  published  in  America,  and  he  was 
•  ;ilso  the  first,  ii  is  believed,  to  observe  color  blindness  ;is  n  patho- 
logical condition."  Ele  edited  Lawrence  on  Diseases  of  the  Eye, 
Anion's  Elements  <»r  Physics,  and,  in  association  with  Dr.  Ii.  B. 
Griffith,  translated  the  Chronic  Phlegmasia?  <>l"  Broussais,  and  i  Ik* 
Principles  <>r  Physiological  Medicine  of  the  same  author.  liis  edi- 
torial  connection  with  various  medical  journals  will  1><-  alluded  i«» 
under  the  head  of  the  Medical  Journals  of  Philadelphia. 

Dr.  Hugh  L.  Hodge  (1796-1873),  although  the  third  incumbent 
of  the  chair  of  Obstetrics  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  \v;is.  in 
reality,  the  first  authoritative  teacher  of  midwifery  in  thai  institu- 
tion, -hi  nics  did  little  to  advance  the  ari  he  taught,  and  Dewees,  as 
has  already  been  stated,  was  stricken  with  apoplexy  m  the  end  of 
liis  first  course  <>r  lectures.  A  better  example  <>r  the  irony  of  fate 
than  that  afforded  by  the  life  <»r  Dewees  <;m  scarely  l>e  found 
in  medical  annals.  Hodge  was  elected  i«»  succeed  him  in  L835,  and 
it  is  no  disparagement  of  his  more  brilliant  competitor,  Charles  I  >. 
Meigs,  i<>  say  that  he  justified  the  choice  of  the  trustees.  The 
aggressive  genius  of  Meigs,  liis  fiery,  poetic  temperament  and  liis 
antiririg  energy  were  the  very  qualities  most  essential  to  a  teacher 
in  a  school  which,  on  account  of  its  comparative  youth,  was  obi 
to  assert  itself,  and  thej  doubtless  contributed  largely  to  the  well- 
earned  fame  of  the  Jefferson  Medical  College.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  conservative  nature  of  Hodge,  his  equable  disposition  and,  using 
the  word  in  no  invidious  sense,  liis  self-sufficiency,  were  more  in 
accdrd  with  the  traditions  of  the  older  institution. 

Hodge's  magnum  opus  was    the    Principles    and     Practice    of 
Obstetrics,  with  L59  lithographic  figures  from  original  photographs 


502  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

and  with  numerous  wood  cuts.     Of  this  superb  work,  there  are  two 
editions  in  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  the  first  of  which 
was  published  in  1864,  not  in  1863,  as  stated  by  Goodell    in   his 
biographical  memoir  of  Dr.  Hodge.     The  second  edition  appeared 
in  1866.     On  account  of  his  imperfect  v.ision   (Goodell  actually 
speaks  of  him  as  a  "blind  man")  Dr.  Hodge  labored  under  great 
difficulties  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  which,  from  title  page 
to  colophon,  was  written  under  his  dictation.     To  the  student  of 
medical  history,  the  most  interesting  portion  of  Hodge's  Obstetrics 
is  its  preface,  which  contains  an  admirable  account  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  obstetric  teaching  in  Philadelphia.     The  chief  remain- 
ing works  of  Dr.  Hodge  are  Diseases  Peculiar  to  Women,  1860;  a 
paper  on  Foeticide,  which  had  a  large  circulation;   and    papers 
on    "Synclitism"    and   the    Mechanism    of    Labor.       His    studies 
in  these  fields  Avill  always  be  of  value  to  the  obstetrician,  while  his 
strenuous  advocacy  of  the  non-contagiousness  of  puerperal  fever 
can  no  longer  be  productive  of  harm.     George   McOlellan    (1796- 
1847),  the  founder  of  Jeff erson  College,  is  better  remembered  by  his 
deeds  than  his  writings.     His  principal  literary  work  was  a  text- 
book on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  a  posthumous  work 
edited  by  his  son,  John  H.  B.  McClellan,  and  published  in  1848.     The 
book  was  in  press  at  the  time  of  McClellan's  death,  and,  as  stated  by 
Darrach,  his  biographer:     "The   first   printed   sheet  was   placed 
before  him  during  his  brief  illness,  but  he  was  already  too  much 
exhausted  to  notice  its  contents."     Jacob  Kandolph  (1796-184S), 
almost  exactly  contemporaneous  with  McClellan,  resembled  the 
latter  in  the  brilliancy  of  his  surgical  work  and  the  scantiness  of  his 
contributions  to  medical  literature.     The  frequency  of  this  combi- 
nation is  such  as  to  suggest  the  thought  that  great  manual  dexterity 
and  literary  talent  are,  at  least  to  a  certain  exent,  mutually    ex- 
clusive.    Kandolph's  publications  may  be  found  in  the  North  Amer- 
ican Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences,  and  the  Medical  Examiner,  and  the  most  impor- 
tant among  them  are  reports  of  cases  in  which  the  operation  of 
lithotripsy  was  performed.     He  was  the  first  to  introduce  this  oper- 
ation into  Philadelphia,  and,  in  fact,  to  him  belongs  the  chief  credit 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

of  introducing  ii  into  this  country.  Before  tin-  time  of  Randolph 
there  were  bul  two  recorded  cases  of  lithotripsy  in  the  United 
States.  His  dexterity  in  the  performance  of  this  delicate  operation 
excited  the  admiration  of  the  most  competent  critics,  among  them 
George  W.  Norris,  who  says  that,  in  his  opinion,  i1  was  unsurpassed 
"<\<'ii  by  the  eminent  discoverer  of  the  method  himself." 

There  are  oames  in  our  annals  which  inevitably  sugg  st  the 
trite  bul  ever  appropriate  figure  of  the  beacon  light,  warning  from 
the  shoals  of  error  and  pointing  "every  wandering  bark"  to  the 
haven  of  truth.  One  of  the  mosl  brilliant  among  them  is  John 
Kearsley  Mitchell  (1 796-1858),  whose  lectures  on  the  <  Jryptogamous 
Origin  of  Malarious  and  Epidemic  Fevers  are  to  be  ranked  among 
the  most  remarkable  contributions  t<>  medical  literature. 
Hirsch  remarks,  he  was  undoubtedly  "the  first  to  approach  in  a 
scientific  spirit  the  nature  of  infective  disease,  and  particularly  in 
malaria]  fever."  It  is  true  that  he  was  mistaken  in  regarding  the 
cause  of  malarial  fevers  as  vegetable  rather  than  animal,  and, 
therefore,  his  merit,  in  this  connection,  must  rest  upon  the  recog- 
nition of  aii  organic  cause  of  the  diseases  in  question.  This  doctrine 
he  supported  by  an  immense  number  of  facts  and  analogies,  and 
inculcated  with  remarkable  clearness  and  eloquence.  One  r 
from  the  perusal  of  these  lectures,  not  only  delighted  with  the 
beauties  of  Mitchell's  style  and  deeply  impressed  with  the  force  of 
his  reasoning,  but  also  with  a  feeling  of  respect  for  those  medical 
students  of  the  class  of  1846-47,  who  were  his  attentive  hearers  and 
at  whose  urgent  request  the  lectures  were  published.  Although 
the  terms  "toxine"  and  "antitoxine"  were  unknown  in  Mitchell's 
day,  he  was  none  the  less  acquainted  with  the  fundamental  facts  of 
which  they  are  the  symbols.  This  is  manifest  from  the  following: 
"But  when,"  he  says,  "organic  substances  find  their  way  into  the 
tide  of  blood,  and  that,  too,  with  vit  il  energies  capable  of  reacting 
on  the  elements  of  the  sanguine  current,  it  requires  but  Little 
acquaintance  with  physiological  and  pathological  phenomena  to 
induce  us  to  dread  the  mosi  fearful  results." 

1  lis  statement  of  the  cause  of  immunity  from  second  at  tacks  <>f 
certain  infectious  diseases  comprises,  in  a  few  well-chosen  words. 


504  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

the  antitoxine  theory  of  to-day.  "Their  germs,'"  he  says,  "having 
once  reacted  in  the  body,  leave  behind  a  poison,  or  at  last  an  impedi- 
ment, by  which  their  future  reaction  is  there  prevented." 

J.  K.  Mitchell's  principal  writings  were  published  in  1859  in  a 
single  volume,  under  the  editorship  of  his  son,  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell. 
The  title  of  this  work  is  "Five  Essays,'"  the  subjects  of  which  are: 

(1)  The  Cryptogamous  Origin  of  Malarious  and  Epidemic  Fevers; 

(2)  An  Essay  Upon  Animal  Magnetism,  or  Vital  Induction;  (3)  On 
the  Penetrativeness  of  Fluids;  (1)  On  the  Penetrativeness  of  Oases; 
(5)  On  a  New  Practice  in  Acute  and  Chronic  Rheumatism.  From  a 
medical  standpoint,  the  last  of  these  essays  is  quite  as  important 
and  interesting  as  the  first,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made. 
It  was  first  published  in  "Hays'  Journal''  in  1831,  and  anticipates  by 
half  a  century  Charcot's  observations  on  spinal  arthropathies.  Dr. 
Mitchell  was  led  to  regard  some  disorder  of  the  spinal  cord  as  the 
origin  of  rheumatism,  by  observing  pain  and  swelling  of  the  joints 
in  two  cases  of  spinal  disease;  the  first  being  a  case  of  Pott's  disease, 
the  second  a  case  of  curvature  of  the  cervical  vertebra?.  In  both 
these  cases  the  arthritis  was  promptly  cured  by  leeches  applied  to' 
i he  spine.  Dr.  Mitchell  then  treated  a  number  of  cases  of  acute 
articular  rheumatism  by  means  of  wet  cups  to  the  spine  and  with 
most  satisfactory  results.  He  gives  a  table  of  thirty-two  cases 
treated  in  this  manner,  twenty-two  of  which  were  cured  within 
eight  days.  The  theory  of  Mitchell  that  the  cause  of  rheumatism 
is  to  be  found  in  some  central  nervous  disorder  has  been  lately 
adopted  in  somewhat  modified  form  by  Professor  Latham,  of 
England,  who  announced  his  adherence  to  it  in  the  Croonian  lec- 
tures delivered  before  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians  in  1886.  At 
present,  the  weight  of  opinion  is  in  favor  of  the  parasitic  or  infectious 
theory  of  rheumatism,  but  in  the  absence  of  direct  demonstration  of 
the  supposed  infectious  agent,  there  is,  at  least,  quite  as  much  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  the  neuropathic  theory,  as  first  advanced  by 
J.  K.  Mitchell.  Mitchell  was  not  only  a  scientific  physician,  but  a 
poet.  He  published  a  number  of  lyrics  which  have  been  described 
by  a  competent  critic  as  '"melodious,  delicate  and  graceful,"  and 
two  poems  of  greater  length  and  more  sustained  effort  "which  show 


I.\  PHILADELPHIA. 

a  lively  liiii's  and  mm  li  i  ■  *  • ;  m  I  \  command  and  choice  of  languag 
Reference  to  these  compositions  is  here  made  in  order  to  show  the 
absurdity  <>l'  the  vulgar  opinion    thai    nothing    "practical"    can 
emanate  from  the  brain  <»r  ;i  poet,  for  if  ever  there  was  a  "practical" 
mail  i i  was  J.  K.  Mitchell. 

John  Belli  L796-1872)  wrote  (1)  A  'i  reatise  on  Baths  and  Mineral 

Waters,  in  two  parts,  of  which  Pari  I  contained  a  "full  ace i  of 

the  hygienic  and  curative  powers  of  cold,  tepid,  warm,  hoi  and  vapor 
baths,  and  of  sea  bathing."  Pari  II:  "A  history  of  the  chemical 
composition  and  medicinal  properties  of  the  chief  mineral  springs 
of  i  lie  United  States  and  of  Europe."     532  pp.,  8vo. 

2.     A  Practical  Dictionary  of  Materia  Medica,  179  pp.,  8vo. 
Regimen  and  Longevity,  42  pp.,  8vo. 

I.     Dietetical  and  .Medical  Hydrology,  658  pp.,  8vo. 

In  association  with  Dr.  I).  F.  Condie  he  wrote  a  Reporl  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  to  the  Board  of  Health,  which  contained  "all 
i  lie  material  facts  in  the  history  of  epidemic  cholera  .  .  .  and  a  lull 
accounl  of  the  causes,  post-mortem  appearances  and  treatmenl  of 
the  disease,"  is:',!'.  Dr.  Bell  also  edited  Stokes'  Lectures  on  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Physic,  Andrew  Combe's  Treatise  on  the 
Physiological  and  Moral  Management  of  Children,  and  several 
ot  her  works. 

David  Francis  Condie  (1796-1875)  was  the  author  of  one  of  the 
earliest  and  mosl  successful  works  on  the  Diseases  of  Children. 
This  "practical  treatise"  was  published  in  L844  and  reached  a  sixth 
edition  in  L868.  It  was  superseded  by  the  well-known  work  by 
Meigs  and  Pepper  on  the  same  subject.  In  addition  Condie  pub- 
lished several  addresses  and  a  biographical  notice  of  Henry  Bond, 
M.  1  >.,  and  edited  Watson's  Lectures  on  the  Practice  of  Physic, 
Churchill  on  the  Diseases  of  Women,  Carpenter  on  the  Use  and 
Abuse  of  Alcoholic  Liquors,  and  Harlow's  .Manual  of  the  Pracl  ice  of 
Medicine. 

George  B.  Wood  (1797-1879)  is  chiefly  remembered  as  the 
author  of  a  text-bool*  on  the  Tract  ice  of  Medicine,  which,  for  many 
years,  was  facile  princeps  among  works  on  this  subject.  !t  is  a 
in  i  hi  ti  men  t  of  erudition  ami  a  mod  id  of  lit  era  r\  stvle.     "It  became  a 


506  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

favorite  text-book  for  students,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  also  in 
Great  Britain.  The  time-honored  University  of  Edinburgh  was  one 
of  several  foreign  medical  schools  in  which  it  was  officially  approved 
and  adopted.  It  passed,  during  its  author's  life,  through  six  edi- 
tions," The  first  edition  of  this  great  work  was  published  in  1847, 
three  years  before  Wood  was  transferred  from  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Therapeutics  to  that  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Medicine,  the  latter  having  been  vacated  by  Nathaniel  Chapman. 
In  attempting  to  estimate  the  difficulties  encountered  by  Wood  in 
the  composition  of  this  colossal  work,  it  must  be  remembered  that, 
in  his  day,  there  was  neither  Index  Catalogue  nor  Index  Medicus, 
and  that,  even  as  late  as  1885,  the  library  of  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians contained  only  1,700  volumes.  An  author  such  as  W'ood  wras 
obliged  to  found  a  library,  which  was  naturally  selected  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  it  is  partly  through  the  gradual -absorption  of 
such  precious  hoards  that  the  collection  of  the  College  of  Plrysicians 
has  attained  its  present  size  and  value.  Wood's  work  on  the  Phar- 
macopoeia and  the  Dispensatory,  in  association  with  Dr.  Bache,  has 
been  already  mentioned.  Of  the  latter,  120,000  copies  were  sold 
during  Dr.  Wood's  life.  In  addition  to  these  magna  opera,  he  pub- 
lished two  volumes  of  Memoirs,  Lectures  and  Addresses,  several  of 
which  are  upon  historical  subjects.  It  is  probably  remembered  by 
few  that  Dr.  Wood  was  also  a  poet,  or,  rather,  a  versifier,  for, 
according  to  Henry  Ilartshorne,  his  principal  metrical  work, 
entitled  "First  and  Last,"  is  "without  a  spark  of  poetic  genius." 

Thomas  Jefferson  did  excellent  service  for  the  cause  of  medical 
education  in  this  country  when,  through  his  agent,  Francis  W. 
Gilmer,  he  induced  Eobley  Dunglison  to  accept  a  chair  in  the 
University  of  Virginia.  It  was  a  declaration  of  dependence  which 
proved  its  author  to  be  well  aware  of  the  fact  that,  amid  all  the 
discussions  of  politics,  the  republic  of  science  is  one  and  indivisible. 

Of  Robley  Dunglison  (1798-1869),  Prof.  S.  D.  Gross,  writing  in 
1869,  said:  "No  physician  on  this  continent  has  surpassed  him  in 
the  extent  of  his  erudition,  in  the  variety  of  his  information,  or  in 
the  magnitude  of  his  labors,"  and  the  writer  sees  no  reason  to 
modify  this  opinion.     He  is  best  known  at  the  present  day  by  his 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

Dictionary  of  Medical  Science,  of  which  the  twenty-firs!  edition, 
thoroughly  revised  and  greatly  enlarged  by  his  son,  Richard  J. 
Dunglison,  was  published  by  Lea  Bros.  &  Co.  in  L893.     Piftj 
thousand  copies  of  this  wort  were  issued  during  the  lifetime  of  its 
author,  and  "of  all  his  works,   L25,000  copies,  equal  bo  between 

150,000  and  1.60,000  volu s."     His  industry  was  amazing  and  its 

products  of  the  highest  order.  Be  spenl  Dine  years  (1825-1 
inclusive)  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  and  while,  in  virtue  of  his 
contrad  with  that  institution,  he  was  teaching  anatomy,  physiol- 
ogy, surgery,  materia  medica,  pharmacy  and  i  lie  history  of  medicine 
(miraliledicki!),  ttebroughl  outhis  Buman  Physiology  in  two  large 
octavo  volumes,  and  lii.s  Dictionary.  The  former  passed  through 
eight  editions  and  the  latter,  now  in  its  twenty-first,  bids  fair  to 
maintain  its  place  for  an  indefinite  period.  Prom  the  autumn  of 
is::::  to  that  of  1836,  he  belonged  to  the  Faculty  of  the  University  of 
Maryland  and  taught  materia  medica,  therapeutics,  hygiene  and 
medical  jurisprudence.  During  this  period,  lie  composed  Ijis 
admirable  work  on  General  Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica,  and 
his  elements  of  Hygiene,  of  which  the  former  reached  six  editions 
and  the  latter  two.  The  Medical  Student,  or  Aids  to  the  Study  of 
Medicine,  appeared  in  1837,  and  a  second  and  much  larger  edition 
iu  1844.  New  Remedies  was  published  in  L839.  This  work  first 
appeared  as  a  part  of  the  American  Medical  Library,  but  was  subse- 
quently published  separately.  It  passed  through  seven  editions, 
the  last,  an  octavo  of  750  closely  printed  pages,  in  L856.  The  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine,  in  two  volumes,  was  issued  in  L842.  In  the  course 
of  six  years  it  passed  through  three  editions,  of  which  the  lasl  con- 
tained nearly  1,500  pages.  This  is  but  a.  tithe  of  the  work  of  this 
literary  giant.  In  1837  he  founded  a  monthly  periodical,  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Library  and  Intelligencer,  which  was  "devoted  to  the 
republican  <»n  of  foreign  medical  and  surgical  works  and  the  dissem- 
ination of  medical  news."  It  survived  only  five  years,  bul  during 
that  period  the  portion  contributed  by  Dunglison,  as  collator  and 
editor,  amounted  to  five  volumes,  in  association  with  Mr.  W. 
Ohapin,  he  brought  ou1  a  Dictionary  for  the  Blind  in  raised  type,  in 
three  folio  volumes,  ami  edited,  with  valuable  notes  and  additions, 


508  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

Koget's  Physiology,  Traill's  Lectures  on  Medical  Jurisprudence,  and 
Forbes's  Cyclopaedia  of  Practical  Medicine.  The  rest  of  his  literary 
work  is  made  up  of  addresses,  introductory  and  valedictory, 
biographical  memoirs  of  distinguished  men,  and  a  large  number  of 
articles  on  non-medical  subjects,  which  appeared  in  the  Virginia 
Literary  Museum,  of  which  he  was  a  founder  and  an  editor,  and  in 
other  periodicals.  One  of  these  articles,  it  may  be  mentioned,  was 
on  the  Sanscrit  Language.  It  is  humbly  hoped  that  this  brief  notice 
may  help  to  keep  green  the  memory  of  this  remarkable  man,  who 
was  no  mere  accumulator  of  words  and  phrases,  but  a  finished 
scholar  and  a  master  of  English  prose.  To  repeat  the  quotation 
employed  by  his  distinguished  biographer:  'Nihil  tetigit  quod  non 
arnavit. 

Samuel  David  Gross  (1805-1884)  was  as  eminent  in  surgical,  as 
was  Dunglison  in  medical,  literature;  but  unlike  the  latter,  Gross 
displayed  his  activity  in  many  other  fields  than  those  of  literature. 
He  was,  undoubtedly,  the  foremost  surgeon  of  his  day,  and  has  been 
recognized  as  such  by  the  medical  profession.  There  may  have 
been  more  brilliant  operators  and  more  thorough  anatomists,  but 
as  scholar,  teacher,  writer  and  surgeon  combined,  Gross  stands 
unrivaled.  He  began  his  literary  career  very  early  in  life.  .  Grad- 
uating in  1828,  he  published  in  1830  a  work  of  389  pp.,  8vo,  on  the 
Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Diseases  of  the  Bones  and  Joints.  In 
1839  he  published  his  celebrated  Elements  of  Pathological 
Anatomy,  which  passed  through  three  editions.  The  first  edition 
of  this  work  was  in  two  volumes  of  more  than  five  hundred  pages 
each;  the  last  two  editions  were  issued  in  a  single  volume.  This 
book  was  a  favorite  with  Professor  Virchow  and  was  heartily  com- 
mended by  him  upon  a  memorable  occasion.  At  a  dinner  given  by 
Virchow  in  honor  of  his  American  confrere,  the  former  took  the 
opportunity  of  alluding  to  the  work  in  a  manner  and  in  terms 
that  were  most  grateful  to  his  distinguished  guest.  The  interesting 
event  is  thus  related  by  Professor  Gross  in  his  Autobiography : 

"After  the  viands  were  pretty  well  disposed  of,  Virchow,  avail- 
ing himself  of  a  lull  in  the  conversation,  drew  forth  a  large  volume 
from  under  the  table,  and,  rising,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  made 


SAMUEI     D.    GROSS. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  "'II 

me  ;in  address  in  German,  complimenting  me  upon  my  Labors  as  a 
pathological  anatomisl  and  referring  to  the  work,  which  happened 
to  be  the  second  edition  of  my  Elements  of  Pathological  Anatomy, 
as  one  from  the  study  of  which  he  had  derived  mnch  useful  instruc- 
tion, and  one  which  In-  always  consulted  with  much  pleasure.  I 
Deed  not  Bay  how  deeply  flattered  I  fell  by  this  great  honor,  so 
unexpectedly  and  so  handsomely  bestowed  upon  me  by  this 
renowned  man.  1  felt  thai  L  had  not  Labored  in  rain  and  that  the 
compliment  w;is  more  than  an  equivalent  for  nil  the  toil  and  anxiety 
which  the  work  had  cost  me."  This  happened  in  Berlin  in  the 
summer  of  L868,  and  among  the  witnesses  of  a  scene  which  should 
be  portrayed,  not  only  in  words,  but  by  the  brush  of  a  great  artist, 
were  7on  Langenbeck,  von  Graefe,  Donders  and  Gurlt, 

In  L843,  Dr.  Gross  published  An  Experimental  and  Critical 
Enquiry  [nto  the  Nature  and  Treatment  of  Wounds  of  the  Intestine, 
of  which  the  third  edition  was  edited  by  his  son,  the  late  Professor 
Samuel  W.  (J'ross.  The  enormous  advances  in  abdominal  surgery 
that  have  lately  been  made,  have  relegated  this  treatise  to  the 
limbo  of  obsolete  publications.  In  the  time  of  Gross,  the  greatest 
triumph  of  abdominal  surgery  was  the  formation  of  an  artificial 
anus. 

In  1851,  appeared  a.  Practical  Treatise  on  the  Diseases,  Injuries 
and  Malformations  of  the  Urinary  Bladder,  the  Prostate  Gland,  and 
the  Tret  lira,  of  which  a  third  edition,  in  1S7<>,  was  also  edited  by  the 
late  Professor  s.  \V.  Gross. 

A  Practical  Treatise  on  Foreign  Bodies  in  the  Air  Passages 
appeared  in  1854. 

The  work  by  which  Professor  Gross  was  most  widely  and 
popularly  known  was  his  System  of  Surgery,  Pathological,  Diag- 
nostic, Therapeutique  and  Operative.  This  colossal  work  was  con- 
tained in  two  large  OCtavO  volumes,  each  of  nearly  L,200  pa§ 
The  first  edition  was  issued  in  L859  and  the  sixth  in  L882.  In  L863 
it  was  translated  into  the  I  Mitch  language.  The  labor  involved  in 
the  composition  of  this  book  ami  in  the  revision  of  its  successive 
editions,  was  immense.  "Rising  early,  working  late,  writing  with 
an  assiduity  that  only  a  man  of  his  wonderful  physique  could  have 


512  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

kept  up,  he  generally  gave  from  five  to  eight  hours  a  day  to  the 
cherished  project,  uo  matter  what  the  interruptions  or  whatever 
else  he  had  (h)  to  do."  In  1861,  Dr.  Gross  was  editor  of,  and  princi- 
pal contributor  to,  a  volume  entitled  Lives  of  Eminent  American 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  in  18TG  he 
contributed  to  the  literature  of  the  Centennial  year,  a  learned  and 
voluminous  History  of  American  Surgery  from  1776  to  1876. 

His  autobiography  in  two  large  octavo  volumes  was  published 
in  1887,  three  years  after  his  death,  under  the  editorship  of  his  sons. 
The  passage  quoted  above  may  be  regarded  as  a  specimen  of  the 
interesting  reminiscences  contained  in  this  work,  of  which  the  last 
two  hundred  pages  are  devoted  to  biographical  sketches  of  distin- 
guished contemporaries  of  its  more  distinguished  author.  In  addi- 
tion, Dr.  Gross  published  addresses,  introductory  and  valedictory, 
and  biographical  memoirs  which,  while  they  fall  into  the  rank  of 
opera  minora,  would  have  sufficed  to  perpetuate  his  literary  reputa- 
tion. 

One  rises  from  a  study  of  the  life  work  of  Samuel  D.  Gross  with 
a  profound  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  his  self-imposed  tasks.  They 
were,  however,  labors  of  love.  His  whole  soul  was  devoted  to  his 
profession  and  he  sustained  the  heaviest  burdens  with  that  light- 
ness and  grace  which  are  the  expression  of  a  superb  mental  and 
physical  endowment. 

Joseph  Pancoast  (1805-1882),  the  brilliant  colleague  of  Gross,  is 
remembered  as  a  most  dexterous  operator  and  an  admirable 
teacher,  and  this  memory  will  be  transformed  into  a  tradition  by 
future  generations.  He  contributed  very  little  to  medical  litera- 
ture. Early  in  life,  he  translated  Lobsteins  Treatise,  "De  nervi 
sympathici  humani  fabrica  et  morbis,"  Paris,  1823.  It  is  no  in- 
justice to  Pancoast  to  say  that  he  was  not  fully  aware  of  the  value 
of  the  little  book  which  he  took  the  trouble  to  translate.  The  first 
case  of  Addison's  disease  on  record  is  to  be  found  in  Lobstein's  book, 
but  Addison's  disease  was  not  recognized  as  a  distinct  morbid  entity 
until  the  publication,  in  1855,  of  Addison's  classical  work  "On  the 

(b.)    Biographical  sketch  of  Prof.  Samuel  D.  Cross,  by  J.  M.  Da  Costa.  M.  D., 
T.L.    D. 


l\  PHIL  ^DELPHI  \.  518 

Constitutional  and  Local  Effect  >  of  Disease  of  the  Supra-renal  Cap 
sules." 

The  remaining  principal  publication  of  Professor  Pancoast  is 
his  Treatise  on  Operative  Surgery,  a  work  <»r  380  pages,  with  v,» 
plates,  which  was  issued  in  isn  and  reached  ;i  third  « - < l i f i « > 1 1  in 
L852. 

<  teorge  W  .  Norris  I L808-1875)  was  aol  a  roluminous  writer.  1 1  is 
papers,  devoted  exclusively  to  surgical  subjects,  and  dealing 
('specially  wiih  the  statistics  of  operations,  appeared,  for  the  aiost 
part,  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences.  The  Brsl 
of  these  valuable  contributions  to  surgical  literature  is  the  report 
of  a  case  of  dislocation  and  fracture  of  the  astragalus,  which 
appeared  in  the  above-named  journal  in  August,  L837,just  one  year 
after  Norris  was  elected  surgeon  to  t  he  Pennsylvania  Bospital.  Fn 
1873  he  collected  his  principal  writings  and  issued  them  in  a  single 
volume,  entitled  Contributions  to  Practical  Surgery.  In  publish 
ing  this  work,  Dr.  Norris  conferred  a  favor  upon  his  surgical  con- 
temporaries, to  whom  he  thus  made  readily  accessible  a  series  of 
observations  that  bad  previously  been  widely  scattered.  Many  of 
the  papers  were  classical,  and,  to  use  the  words  of  Ashhursi.  were 
"quoted  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world  where  the  English 
language  is  either  read  or  spoken."  The  essay  upon  the  "Occur- 
rence of  Non-Union  After  Fractures"  was  described  by  William 
Hunt  as  "an  exhaustive  masterpiece,"  and  by  Frank  Hastings  Ham- 
ilton as  "the  most  complete  and  reliable  monograph  upon  this 
subject  contained  in  any  language.1' 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Norris,  in  March,  L875,  there  was  found, 
among  his  papers,  the  manuscript  of  an  Early  History  of  Medicine 
in  Philadelphia.  "The  notes  and  memoranda  which  accompany  the 
manuscript  show  that  it.  was  for  the  most  pari  written  in  L845, 
but  laid  aside  for  a  time,  owing  to  press  of  active  w  oik  as  a  surgeon, 
while  in  later  years  failure  of  health  prevented  the  finishing  touches 
necessary  to  its  completion"  (i).  The  manuscript  was  printed  and 
published,  in  L886,  for  private  distribution,  by  hr.  William  V.  Nor 
ris,  the  son  of  its  distinguished  author.  The  edition  was  limited  to 
iii    From   the  preface  by   Dr.   Win.    !•'.   Norris. 


514  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

one  hundred  and  twenty-five  copies,  and  lias  been  distributed  among 
those  who,  on  account  of  their  friendship  for  its  author,  their  general 
culture,  or  their  devotion  to  historical  studies,  are  most  capable  of 
appreciating  it.  It  is  certainly  the  most  interesting  and  valuable 
record  of  medical  annals  that  has  ever  appeared  in  this  country,  and 
the  work  is  numbered  by  its  fortunate  possessors  among  their  great- 
est treasures.  The  book  is  a  veritable  edition  de  luxe,  and  is  a  fit  set- 
ting for  the  literary  gems  with  which  it  sparkles. 

Joseph  Carson  (1808-1876),  who  occupied  the  chair  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Therapeutics  from  1850  to  1876,  published  numerous 
articles  relating  to  the  subjects  he  taught,  the  majority  of  which 
appeared  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy.  His  chief  con- 
tribution to  strictly  medical  literature  is  an  article  on  Puerperal 
Eclampsia,  which  occupies  thirty -three  pages  of  the  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  for  April,  1871.  The  writer  ven- 
tures the  opinion  that  the  obstetricians  of  the  present  day  are  not 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  this  admirable  paper,  which,  at  the 
time  of  its  publication,  attracted  great  attenion.  It  appeared  in  the 
form  of  a  review  of  more  than  a  dozen  separate  works  upon  eclampsia 
and  allied  subjects,  and  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  by  those  who  are  not 
aware  that,  formerly,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  ablest  writers  in 
Philadelphia  to  publish  a  goodly  proportion  of  their  best  work  in 
the  form  of  reviews.  This  was  notably  the  case  with  Professor 
Joseph  Carson. 

Washington  L.  Atlee  (1808-1878)  did  more  than  any  one  in  the 
world  to  establish  ovariotomy  as  a  legitimate  operation,  and  he 
accomplished  this  herculean  feat,  not  so  much  by  words  as  by  deeds. 
His  contributions  to  literature  were  but  scanty,  and  consist  for  the 
most  part  of  reports  of  operations  performed  by  himself  and  others. 
In  1815,  by  dint  of  indefatigable  research,  lie  collected  the  statistics 
of  one  hundred  and  one  ovariotomies,  and  published  them  in  the 
American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  for  April  of  the  same 
year.  He  was  led  to  undertake  this  investigation  by  his  interest  in 
a  case  of  ovarian  tumor  on  which  his  brother,  Dr.  John  L.  Atlee  of 
Lancaster,  operated  successfully,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1843.  By 
1851  he  had  collected  the  records  of  two  hundred  and  twentv-two 


IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

cases  of  ovariotomy  and  published  them,  in  abstract,  in  the  Transa< 
tinns  of  the  American  Medical  Association  for  thai  year.    Ili>  ftrsl 
operation  \\;is  performed  on  March  29,  L84  I,  and  his  three  hundred 
and  eighty-seventh  on  May  31,  L878.     Dr.  Atlee  was  a  pioneer  in  a 
field  of  surgery  (hat,  up  to  his  time,  had  been  almost  completely 
neglected.    In  spite  of  his  brilliant  success,  perhaps  rather  because 
of  it,  in-  was  the  victim  of  such  misrepresentation  and  abus< 
would  have  caused  an  ordinary  man  to  sink  broken-hearted  into  an 
untimely  grave.    Ii  is  impossible,  m  the  present  day,  to  understand 
the  attitude  assumed  by  some  of  Atlee's  most  distinguished  con 
temporaries.    They  vilified  him  publicly  before  their  students,  and 
endeavored,  privately,  t<»  dissuade  his  patients  from  submitting 
to  operations  which  he  had  recommended.     In  short,  he  Buffered, 
in  the  fullest  extent,  the  penalty  of  being  in  advance  of  his  time. 
Fortunately,  his  life  was  sufficiently  prolonged  for  him  to  witi 
the  triii in pli  of  his  opinions,  and  to  enjoy  the  rewards  of  his  com 
and  skill.    His  paper  on  the  Treatment  of  Fibroid  Tumors  of  the 
Uterus,  read  before  the  International  Medical  Congress  in  Septem- 
ber, 1876,  was  warmly  applauded  by  the  most  eminent  gynecologists 
of  the  day. 

William  Wood  Gerhard  (1809-1872)  is  justly  regarded  as  the 
greatest  of  Philadelphia  clinicians.  His  chief  claim  to  distinction 
is  derived  from  his  studies  of  typhoid  and  typhus  fevers,  by  which 
he  was  led  to  establish  the  separate  natures  of  these  diseases.  His 
best  work  was  done  early  in  life.  Graduated  from  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  LS32,  he  immediately  proceeded  to  Paris,  at  that 
lime  the  medical  center  of  the  world,  and  diligently  followed  the 
teachings  of  Chomel,  Andral  and  Louis.  Of  those  three  distin- 
guished men,  the  last-named  is  the  one  from  whom  Gerhard,  in 
common  with  the  medical  world  at  large,  derived  t  ho  most  valuable 
instruction.  While  "walking  the  hospitals"  of  Paris,  Gerhard  was 
diligently  collecting  the  materials  of  his  earlier  publications,  and 
his  methods  were  identical  with  those  of  Sydenham,  who  declared, 
with  the  voice  of  authority,  that  "all  diseases  should  be  described  as 
objects  of  natural  history."  It  is  related  of  Sydenham  that  he 
advised  a  young  man  who  asked  him  to  prescribe  a  course  of  medical 


516  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

reading,  to  read  Don  Quixote;  in  other  words,  to  eschew  the  works 
of  hair-splitting  theorists,  and  study  disease,  not  in  the  library, 
but  at  the  bedside.  This  was  the  method  of  Gerhard,  to  whom  his 
friends,  on  hearing  the  story  above  referred  to,  might  well  have 
said,  in  the  words  of  Horace:  Mutato  nomine  de  te  f alula  narrator. 
"Such  was  his  desire  for  impartial  observation  that  he  not  only 
avoided,  as  he  tells  us,  the  examination  of  books,  but  even  abstained 
from  the  comparison  of  his  own  observations  with  each  other,  until 
the  series  was  completed  and  he  was  prepared  to  analyze  them  and 
then  compare  the  results  with  what  has  been  related  by  others"  (j). 
The  first  fruit  of  this  conscientious  study  was  the  publication, 
in  association  with  his  friend  and  fellow-student,  Dr.  Caspar  Wis- 
tar  Pennock,  of  Observations  on  the  Cholera  as  it  appeared  in  Paris 
in  1832.  He  then  turned  his  attention  almost  exclusively  to  the 
study  of  the  diseases  of  children,  for  which,  at  that  time,  unusual 
facilities  were  afforded  in  Paris.  The  hospital  in  which  Gerhard 
pursued  his  investigations,  contained  500  beds,  the  age  of  the 
patients  ranging  from  two  to  sixteen  years.  It  needs  but  a  slight 
oxercise  of  the  imagination,  especially  on  the  part  of  those  who 
remember  the  man  and  his  methods,  to  depict  the  young  student 
pondering  over  the  specimens  of  this  rich  collection,  interpreting 
their  signs,  classifying  their  symptoms  and  correlating  both  symp- 
toms and  signs  with  the  post-mortem  lesions.  One  of  the  first  results 
of  his  investigations  in  this  field  was  the  observation  that  inflamma- 
tion of  the  glands  of  Peyer,  to  which  Louis  had  directed  attention 
as  the  specific  lesion  of  typhoid  fever,  is  by  no  means  rare  in  other 
diseases  of  childhood.  He  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  cerebral 
affections  of  children,  and  soon  demonstrated  the  association  of 
the  most  frequent  variety  of  meningitis  with  the  deposit  of  tubercles 
in  the  pia  mater.  Cases  of  the  kind  referred  to  had  been  previously 
classified  under  the  generic  title  of  hydrocephalus,  but  are  now 
correctly  described  as  tubercular  meningitis.  His  studies  of  the 
pneumonia  of  childhood  are  of  equal  interest  and  value.  He  pointed 
out  with  great  accuracy  the  differences  in  the  signs  and  symptoms, 
the  clinical  course,  and  the  post-mortem  appearance  of  the  so-called 

(j)    Stewardson's  Memoir  of  Gerhard. 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

pneumonia  of  children,  and  led  to  its  classification  under  the  title 
of  Lobular  pneumonia.  Our  views  of  pneumonia  in  childhood  have 
aaturallj  undergone  considerable  modification  since  the  time  of 
Gerhard's  first  studies  of  this  disease.  Genuine  Lobar  pneumonia, 
id. Mil ic.-il  in  all  respects  with  the  pneumonia  of  adults,  may  attack 
the  infant  ai  the  breast,  inn  its  lesions  an-  rarely  observed,  because 
ii  is  a  comparatively  benign  a  ff<  ction.  1 1  is  also  held  ai  the  present 
day  that  many  of  the  cases  of  so-called  Lobular  pneumonia, 
catarrhal  pneumonia,  broncho-pneumonia,  are  of  tubercular  origin. 
This  statement,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  is  not  intended  t<» 
detract,  in  the  sliulit rst  degree,  from  tin-  value  of  Gerhard's  work. 
On  the  contrary,  tin-  writer  is  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  the  path 
to  our  present  knowledge  of  these  affections  was  made  smooth  l>> 
his  pioneer  researches.  These  admirable  contributions  t<>  paedi- 
atrics are  hut  little  known  to  the  physicians  of  to-day.  'This  i» 
partly  due  to  the  fact  that  Gerhard  is  chiefly  remembered  for  his 
work  on  the  continued  levers,  and  partly  because  he  was  the  least 
self-assertive  of  men.  Returning  to  Philadelphia  in  the  autumn 
of  1.833,  he  entered  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  as  resident  physi- 
cian in  the  spring  of  L834,  and  soon  demonstrated  that  the  symp- 
toms and  lesions  of  the  common  continued  fever  of  the  United 
States  were  identical  with  1  hose  of  1  he  typhoid  which  he  had  st  udied 
in  the  wards  of  Louis.  rl  'hia  was  the  first  step  toward  his  great  dis- 
covery. In  the  spring  and  summer  of  L836  an  epidemic  of  typhus 
fever  prevailed  in  Philadelphia,  ami  was  so  extensive  that  Ger- 
hard  had  the  opportunity  of  Studying  two  hundred  cases  of  the  dis- 
ease, lie  had  previously  seen  cases  of  typhus  during  a  visit  t<» 
Edinburgh,  ami  he  was  thus  enabled  to  determine  the  identity  of  the 
epidemic  fever  of  Philadelphia  with  the  typhus  of  Great  Britain, 
and  the  dissimilarity  of  both  from  typhoid. 

This,  very  briefly  stated,  is  the  method  by  which  Gerhard  dem- 
onstrated the  fad  that  typhus  and  typhoid  fevers  are  distinct  dis 
eases.  The  physician  of  to-day  who  is  not  familiar  with  the  State 
of  medical  science  in  the  early  part  of  this  century  may  be  sur- 
prised thai  the  distinction  between  the  two  diseases  was  ma  *.»..  net- 
recognized.     A   study  id'  medical   history  will,  however,  ^><>n   on- 


518  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

vince  him  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  differential  diagnosis, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  excite  his  admiration  for  Gerhard's  brilliant 
work.  Up  to  the  time  of  Louis,  the  pathology  of  the  continued 
fevers  had  not  been  accurately  studied,  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  if  this  great  clinician  had  had  the  opportunity  of  observ- 
ing both  typhus  and  typhoid  fevers,  he  would  have  recognized  their 
separate  natures.  The  fever  studied  by  Louis  was  typhoid,  the  pre- 
vailing fever  of  France,  and  he  investigated  it  from  every  stand- 
point except  that  of  bacteriology  (a  science  then  unknown),  with 
a  thoroughness  that  left  little  to  be  done  by  later  students  of  the 
disease.  When  Gerhard  returned  to  Philadelphia  he  was  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  symptoms,  the  clinical  course,  and,  above 
all,  with  the  pathological  anatomy  of  typhoid  fever.  Soon  after 
his  arrival,  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  under  his  care  a  large 
number  of  cases  of  typhus,  a  disease  hitherto  confounded  with 
typhoid — but  let  him  tell  the  story  of  his  discovery  in  his  own 
words: 

"There  is  another  disease  which,  in  many  respects,  bears  a 
certain  relation  to  typhoid  fever.  Of  this  I  have  shown  numerous 
examples  to  the  class  during  the  twenty-three  years  of  my  attend- 
ance at  this  hospital.  It  is  the  English  or  Irish  typhus,  as  it  was 
formerly  called.  This  disease  was  first  studied  at  Philadelphia  by 
my  late  lamented  colleague,  Dr.  Pennock,  and  myself,  at  the  Alms- 
house Hospital.  The  results  of  our  observations  I  published  at  that 
time  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences.  It  differed 
totally  from  typhoid  fever  in  the  character  of  the  lesions,  there 
being  no  distinctive  anatomical  lesion  at  all  existing  in  the  disease, 
excepting  the  condition  of  the  blood,  which  was  evidently  some- 
what altered  from  its  normal  condition,  the  intestines  and  mesen- 
teric glands  remaining  in  a  state  of  perfect  integrity.  This  disorder 
we  were  enabled  to  prove  was  totally  different  from  the  typhoid 
fever  of  France,  described  so  minutely  by  Dr.  Louis,  with  which 
we  had  been  familiar  for  many  years"  (k). 

This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  enter  into  an  elaborate  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  Gerhard's  priority  in   distinguishing   between 

(k)    Pennsylvania  Hospital  Reports,  18G8. 


IN    PHILADELPHIA.  519 

typhus  mimI  typhoid  fevers.  Murehison  divides  the  honor  <>f  the 
discovery  between  Perrj  <>f  Glasgow  (1836),  II.  C.  Lombard  of 
Geneva  (1836),  Gerhard  and  Pennoek  of  Philadelphia  (1836),  Shat- 
nick  of  Boston  (1839),  and  others;  bul  there  can  be  do  doubt  that, 
in  the  words  of  Osier,  Gerhard's  papers  in  the  American  Journal  of 
the  Medical  Sciences,  L837,  are  "the  first  in  any  Language  which 
give  a  full  and  satisfactory  accounl  of  the  clinical  and  anatomical 
distinctions  we  now  recognize." 

Gerhard's  chief  remaining  works  are  ;i  treatise  <>n  the  Diag- 
nosis of  Diseases  of  the  Chest,  based  upon  the  comparison  of  their 
physical  and  general  si^iis,  L836,  and  Lectures  on  the  Diagnosis, 
Pathology  and  Treal  menl  of  the  Diseases  of  the  Chest,  L842. 

The  first  edition  of  the  latter  work  contained  l.~>7  pp.,  the  fourth 
edition,  issued  in  L860,  contained  448  pp.,  and  was  a  standard 
authority  upon  the  subject  of  which  it  treats. 

William  Pepper  (1810-1864)  was  one  of  the  must  brilliant  con- 
temporaries of  Gerhard,  and,  like  the  latter,  after  gradual ion  from 
the  University,  pursued  his  studies  in  Paris  under  Louis  and  Dupuy- 
Iren.  lie  was  renowned  for  his  skill  in  diagnosis,  and,  as  a  natural 
consequence,  was  in  great  demand  as  a  consultant.  His  literary 
work  was  limited  to  articles,  which  were  published  for  the  most 
part  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  the  Medical 
Examiner,  the  Transactions  of  the  College  <>f  Physicians,  and  of 
the  Pathological  Society.  They  were  "distinguished  by  brevity, 
Clearness  of  expression  and  an  eminently  practical  character."  Dr. 
Thomas  S.  Kirkbride,  in  his  biographical  memoir  of  In-.  Pepper, 
i^ives  a  list  of  his  principal  writings,  but  has  omitted  one  of  the  best 
of  them.  The  paper  referred  to  is  on  Pleuritic  Effusions,  and  was 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  i.i  L852. 
Nearly  twenty  years  ago  (in  IST'.b  the  writer  consulted  this  paper 
and  quoted  it  (1),  and  he  still  retains  a  vivid  sense  of  the  pleasure 
and  profit  he  derived  from  its  perusal.  In  the  same  volume  of  the 
•American  Journal"  in  which  Dr.  Pepper's  article  appeared,  t 
is  another  paper  on  Pleuritic  Effusions,  bj  Dr.  Bowditch  of  Boston, 
and  these  two  papers  are  among  the  best  contributions  to  this 
ih    See  Trans,  of  the  Path.  Soc.  of  Philadelphia,  Vol.  X.  p.  220. 


520  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

important  subject  that  can  be  found  in  medical  literature.  It  would 
be  invidious  to  compare  them.  They  are  both  admirable,  and  if  any 
deficiency  may  be  found  in  the  one,  it  is  supplemented  by  the  com- 
pleteness of  the  other. 

John  Barclay  Biddle  (1815-1879)  was  the  author  of  one  of  the 
most  popular  books  on  Materia  Medica  that  has  ever  been  published. 
The  first  edition  of  the  work  was  issued  in  1852,  under  the  title  of  a 
"Review  of  the  Materia  Medica,  for  the  Use  of  Students,"  and  con- 
tained about  three  hundred  pages.  In  1865  a  second  edition  was 
called  for,  and  the  title  was  changed  to  "Materia  Medica,  for  the 
Use  of  Students."  This  name  was  adopted  for  the  eight  editions 
which  subsequently  appeared,  of  which  the  last  was  issued  in  1878, 
and  contained  462  pages.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  E.  B.  Gardette,  this 
work  "must  long  remain  a  positive  help  to  every  medical  student 
that  seeks  it,  and  be,  in  the  profession  he  adorned,  a  monument  to 
the  memory  of  its  author's  ability."  Dr.  Biddle  was  not  only  an 
author,  but  a  journalist  of  distinction.  In  1838,  when  but  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  he  founded,  in  association  with  Dr.  Meredith 
Clymer,  the  Medical  Examiner,  which  became  almost  immediately 
successful.  It  was  at  first  a  fortnightly  journal,  but  later  was  issued 
weekly.  In  a  few  months  after  it  was  started,  Dr.  W.  W.  Gerhard 
was  added  to  its  editorial  staff,  and  shortly  afterward,  Dr.  Francis 
Gurney  Smith.  "In  examining  the  early  numbers,  one  cannot  fail 
to  be  struck  with  the  high  professional  tone,  the  wide  grasp  and  the 
good  sense  which  characterized  the  editorials,  as  well  as  the 
admirable  bibliographical  notices  with  which  the  pages  of  the 
Medical  Examiner  were  enriched.  The  editors,  youthful  as  they 
were,  gave  evidence  of  being  trained  writers,  and  brought  to  the 
journal  professional  knowledge  and  vigor  of  intellect  not  often 
united  in  men  of  their  age  and  supposed  inexperience"  (Gardette). 

Thomas  Dent  Mutter  (1811-1859)  was  one  of  the  first  American 
surgeons  to  give  special  attention  to  plastic  operations  and  opera- 
tions for  club-foot.  His  bent  in  this  direction  was  doubtless  chiefly 
derived  from  his  studies  under  Dieffenbach  and  Liston.  His  first 
publication  was  a  brochure  on  "The  Salt  Sulphur  Springs  of  Monroe 
County,  Virginia,"  in  1840.     Shortly  after  this,  he    published    a 


l\    PHILADELPHIA. 

pamphlet  <»n  club-feet.  "In  L846  In-  edited,  with  numerous  and 
extensive  additions,  Lectures  <>n  the  Operations  of  Surgery .  i»>  li<>i» 
erl  Liston,  Esq.,  P.  R.  S.  These  works,  with  the  exception  of  a 
syllabus  to  liis  Course  on  Surgery,  and  some  shorl  essays  ami 
addresses,  are  unfortunately  ;ill  thai  he  was  enabled  to  accom- 
plish" t  in ). 

Among  the  contributors  to  surgical  literature,  Henrj  Soiling** 
worth  Smiili  (1815-1890)  is  prominent.  I  lis  .Minor  Surgery,  which 
appeared  in  (.844,  wenl  through  four  editions,  as  did  also  his  Sys 
tern  of  Operative  Surgery,  which  was  ftrsl  published  in  L852.  The 
latter  is  characterized  by  the  uumber  and  beauty  of  its  illustra- 
tions, and,  therefore,  even  ;n  the  presenl  day,  ii  may  l»<-  consulted 
with  greal  profil  by  th<-  undergraduate  or  practitioner  who  wishes 
either  to  learn,  or  review,  the  mere  mechanical  technique  of  anj 
given  operation,  Roth  of  these  works  were  published  before  Dr. 
Smith  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Surgery  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  and,  doubtless,  were  <»l'  influence  in  securing  his 
appointment  to  thai;  position.  In  addition,  Professor  Smith  con- 
tributed numerous  papers  on  surgical  subjects  to  the  medical  jour- 
nals, especially  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  and 
the  Medical  Examiner,  and  signalized  the  first  year  of  his  medical 
career  (ISMS)  by  translating  ('male's  Treatise  on  the  Prophylactic 
Treatment  of  Stone  and  Gravel. 

D.  Hayes  Agnew  (1818-1892)  found  time,  amid  the  incessant 
interruptions  of  an  extensive  practice,  to  contribute  bountifully  to 
surgical  literature.  He  was  a  man  who  never  disappointed  expecta 
tion,  and  it  seemed  but  natural  to  those  who  knew  him  that  the 
treasures  of  his  mind  should  be  lavishly  bestowed.  His  earlier 
writings  were  on  various  subjects  of  a  surgical  nature,  and  ai  one 
time  he  seemed  to  have  a  decided  predilection  for  gynecology:  wit- 
ness his  admirable  paper  on  Laceration  of  the  Perineum,  in  the 
first  volume  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  Reports;  also  his  articles 
on  Vesico- Vaginal  Fistula.  His  life-work,  however,  is  comprised  in 
his  Treatise  on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery,  in  three 
volumes,  dated,  respectively,  L878,  lssi  and  L883.    Concerning  this 

urn    Memodr  of  Thomas  D.  Matter,  by  R.  l.  Levis,  M.  I ». 


522  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

work,  the  friend  and  biographer  of  Agnew,  Professor  J.  William 
White,  remarks:  "It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  magnificent  monu- 
ment to  the  learning,  skill  and  industry  of  one  man  will  remain 
unrivaled  in  surgical  literature.  It  is  not  likely  that  there  will  ever 
again  be  anyone  who  will  combine  the  enormous  experience, 
embracing  every  department  of  surgery,  the  clear  judicial  intellect 
and  the  patient,  untiring  energy  which  enabled  him,  in  hours  stolen 
from  his  family,  from  social  pleasures  and  from  much-needed  rest, 
to  produce  this  remarkable  exposition  of  his  work  and  views.'' 
After  speaking  of  the  necessity  of  revision  to  keep  the  work  abreast 
of  the  march  of  progress,  Dr.  White  continues:  "And  yet  there  are 
portions,  and  large  portions  of  the  book,  which,  it  seems  to  me, 
can  never  grow  surgically  old  or  useless.  Our  successors  may 
be  too  hurried  to  read  the  abstracts  of  the  history  of  important 
surgical  procedures,  which,  with  infinite  labor  and  painstaking,  he 
had  conscientiously  compiled;  his  pathology  may  become  anti- 
quated, and  his  therapeutic  measures  come  to  be  looked  upon  as 
are  those  of  Pare"  or  Wiseman,  but  his  admirable  clinical  descrip- 
tions, his  comprehensive  and  well-balanced  consideration  of  diag- 
nostic points,  his  clear  explanation  of  the  surgical  anatomy  of  dis- 
ease, injury  and  operation,  must  always  remain,  as  at  present,  a 
mine  of  information  for  the  busy  practitioner."' 

The  book,  which  reached  a  second  edition  in  1889,  is  the  prop- 
erty of  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  reputation  of  J.  Forsyth  Meigs  (1818-1882)  rests  chiefly 
upon  his  work  on  the  Diseases  of  Children,  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  a  better  pedestal  for  a  literary  monument.  The  first  edition 
of  this  book  appeared  in  1858  as  one  of  the  Medical  Practitioners' 
and  Students'  Library,  and,  after  passing  through  three  editions, 
Avas  allowed  to  go  out  of  print.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Arthur  V.  Meigs, 
Dr.  Alfred  Stille  speaks  of  Meigs  on  Diseases  of  Children  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms :  "More  than  once  in  later  years  and  before  he  reached 
middle  life,  he  has  lamented  to  me  that  he  was  too  much  hemmed  in 
by  pediatry.  Yet  in  this  he  laid  the  strong  foundations  of  his  pro- 
fessional success.  All  the  while,  he  was  collecting  the  material  for 
the  work  upon  which  his  reputation  must  chiefly  rest.    Every  case 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  :,.-:: 

was  recorded,  and  by  degrees  ;i  muss  of  material  accumulated  thai 
formed  a  mine  <»ui  of  which  ;ii  hi  si  was  built  up  big  work  upon  dis- 
eases of  children.  From  time  i<>  time  he  conversed  with  me  about 
these  papers,  read  them  i<>  me  for  criticism,  and  anally,  taking  Kil* 
liet  ami  Barthez  as  liis  model,  he  produced  the  best  and  most  orig- 
inal work  upon  the  subject  in  the  English  Language." 

In  1869,  Dr.  Meigs  decided  to  reissue  the  work,  and  with  iliis 
object  in  view,  he  secured  the  valuable  assistance  of  Dr.  William 
Pepper.  The  fourth  edition  appeared  in  L870,  and  this  and  the 
three  subsequent  editions  have  been  known  as  Meigs  and  Pepper 
on]  >i  senses  of  Children.  The  honk,  under  t  his  joint  authorship,  was 
entirely  remodeled,  many  of  the  original  articles  being  rearranged 
or  rewritten,  and  many  new  ones  added.  The  fourth  edition  (the 
first  under  the  joint  authorship)  contained  more  than  two  I  mm  I  red 
pages  of  new  mailer.     The  seventh  was  issued  in  1882,  less  limn  a 

year  before  the  death  of  Dr.  Meigs.  There  can  be  no  question  that 
this  book,  in  its  first  edition,  fully  deserved  the  encomiums  of  Dr. 
Stille,  and  that,  through  the  able  collaboration  of  l)i-.  Pepper,  it 
maintained  its  place  in  the  first  rank  of  works  upon  diseases  of 
children.  It  superseded  the  contemporaneous  work  of  Dr.  I).  Fran- 
cis Condie  upon  the  same  subject,  although  the  latter  also  had  a 
Large  sale,  going  through  six  editions,  the  first  in  L844,  the  sixth 
in  18G8. 

In  addition  to  his  great  work  on  the  Diseases  of  Children,  In-. 
Meigs  contributed  numerous  articles  io  various  medical  journals, 
all  of  which  displayed  the  si^ns  of  acute  clinical  observation. 
Among  them  were  "Remarks  on  Atelectasis  Pulmonum,"  etc., 
"Heart -clot  as  a  <  'anse  of  Death  in  Diphtheria,"  the  "Morphological 
Changes  in  the  Blood  in  Malarial  Fever,"  and  a  report  of  a  remark- 
able case  of  pneumopericardium,  lie  also  wrote  a  most  interesting 
memoir  of  his  distinguished  father,  Professor  Charles  I).  Meigs, 
and  a  "History  of  the  First  Quarter  of  the  Second  Century  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital."  The  last-mentioned  paper  was  re.nl  before 
the  Hoard  of  Managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  ;n  their 
stated  meeting  of  September  25,  L876. 

The  only  original  work  of  Francis  Gurnev  Smith  (1818-1878) 


524  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

is  a  pamphlet  embodying  the  results  of  a  series  of  experiments  on 
digestion ;  or  rather  on  the  digestion  of  a  single  individual — Alexis 
St.  Martin.  They  were  performed  in  the  year  1853,  while  he  was 
incumbent  of  the  chair  of  Physiology  in  the  Pennsylvania  Medical 
College,  and  they  led  him  and  his  colleague,  Professor  R.  E.  Rogers, 
to  the  erroneous  conclusion  that  lactic  acid  is  the  acid  of  the  gastric 
juice  in  man.  In  addition,  he  translated  and  made  additions  to 
Earth  and  Rogers'  Manual  of  Auscultation  and  Percussion,  and 
was  one  of  the  authors  of  Xeill  and  Smith's  Compendium  for  Stu- 
dents, which  passed  through  many  editions.  For  five  years,  he  was 
one  of  the  editors  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Examiner,  and  was 
co-editor  of  Drake's  Diseases  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  He  also 
edited  Carpenter's  works  on  Physiology  and  on  the  Microscope,  and 
Marshall's  Outlines  of  Physiology,  Human  and  Comparative. 

John  Xeill  (1819-1880),  the  first  incumbent  of  the  chair  of  Clin- 
ical Surgery  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  contributed  a  num- 
ber of  valuable  articles  to  the  Medical  Examiner,  while  it  was  edited 
by  his  brother-in-law,  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  Hollingsworth,  and  to  the 
American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences.  Two  of  the  articles 
published  in  the  Examiner,  namely,  those  on  the  Treatment  of  Frac- 
ture of  the  Patella  and  on  Extension  and  Counter-Extension  of  the 
Leg,  have  a  permanent  place  in  surgical  literature.  The  various 
articles  in  the  "American  Journal,"  seven  in  number,  are,  in  the 
words  of  his  biographer,  Dr.  Edward  Shippen,  "of  more  than  com- 
mon interest."  Early  in  his  career,  he  published  three  treatises  on 
the  Veins,  Arteries  and  Nerves,  which  had  an  extensive  circulation. 
One  of  their  chief  merits  was  their  illustrations  from  original  draw- 
ings containing  the  names  "placed  upon  the  parts,  instead  of  being 
referred  to  by  numbers — rather  a  novelty  then  and  a  great  relief  to 
the  student."  In  association  with  Dr.  Francis  Gurney  Smith,  Dr. 
Xeill  compiled  the  Compendium  of  Medical  Sciences,  to  which  Dr. 
Rees  contributed  the  sections  upon  Materia  Medica  and  Chemistry. 
This  work,  as  previously  stated,  enjoyed  a  phenomenal  success, 
but,  according  to  Shippen,  Dr.  Xeill,  "in  after  years,  frequently  was 
heard  to  regret  that  he  had  ever  been  connected  with  a  publication, 
however  successful,  which  contributed  so  largely  to  make  medical 


l.\    PHILADELPHIA. 

education  superficial/'  This  reflection  may  have  been  wn guested 
t»\  the  avalanche  of  "quiz  compends"  which  began  to  descend  dur« 
ing  the  latter  years  of  Weill's  life,  and  of  which  the  Compendium  w  as 
i  he  forerunner. 

Henry  Hartshorne  (1823-1897)  \\a>  the  author  of  two  popular 
text-books-  The  Essentials  of  the  Principles  ;  1  r  1  < I  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine, and  the  Conspectus  of  the  Medical  Sciences.  The  firsl  is,  as  its 
Dame  implies,  "a  Handbook  for  Students  and  Practitioners,  while 
the  second  is  mi  elaborate  quia,  compend,  "comprising  manuals  "ii 
anatomy,  physiology,  chemistry,  materia  medica,  practice  of  medi- 
cine, surgery  and  obstetrics."  The  "Essentials"  was  first  issued  in 
ist',7,  and  reached  its  fifth  edition  in  L881.  The  "Conspectus"  was 
published  in  1869,  and  readied  its  second  edition  in  1*74.  Dr. 
Hartshorne  also  wrote  small  monographs  on  Glycerine  and  its  I 
(1865),  and  on  Cholera  (1866),  and  edited  the  American  edition  of 
Reynolds'  System  of  Medicine  (1880),  with  valuable  additions. 
notably  the  article  on  Progressive  Pernicious  Anaemia.  In  L872, 
he  edited  the  fifth  edition  of  Watson's  Lectures  on  the  Principles 
and  Practice  of  Physic,  a  work  which  had  previously  been  edited 
by  Dr.  D.  Francis  Condiein  1858. 

Dr.  William  Hunt.  (1825-1896),  who,  for  thirty  years,  was  on 
the  surgical  staff  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  contributed  numer- 
ous articles  to  medical  journals,  hospital  reports,  transac- 
tions of  societies,  etc.,  nearly  all  of  which  retain  the  interest 
attached  to  them  at  the  time  of  their  publication.  Dr.  Thomas  <l. 
Morton  has  appended  to  his  interesting  memoir  of  ins  hospital  col- 
league, Dr.  Hunt,  a  list  of  the  writings  of  the  latter,  and,  on  reading 
it,  anyone  would  be  impressed  by  the  practical  character  of  the 
subjects  he  chose  for  discussion.  To  those  who  knew  him,  how- 
ever, and  their  name  is  legion,  the  subjects  of  1  hese  papers  are  emi- 
nently in  keeping  with  the  character  of  their  author,  who 
was,  in  the  best,  sense  of  the  word,  a  "practical"  man.  This  epithel 
undoubtedly  conveys  to  the  mind  of  main  persons  the  idea  that  the 
individual  to  whom  it  is  applied  is  necessarily  deficient  in  culture; 
or,  rather,  and  conversely,  it  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  thai  the 
possession  of  hijj'h  scientific  attainments  is  incompatible  with  the 


526  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

exercise  of  keen  observation  and  discriminating  judgment.  The 
career  of  Dr.  Hunt,  in  common  with  that  of  many  of  the  most 
eminent  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Philadelphia,  demonstrates 
the  fallacy  of  this  popular  impression.  Dr.  Hunt  was  widely  known 
as  a  thorough  anatomist,  and  his  opinion  of  difficult  surgical 
cases  was  highly  esteemed  by  his  surgical  colleagues.  At  the  same 
time  he  was  an  active  member  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 
an  excellent  botanist,  a  student  of  modern  languages,  and,  above 
all,  a  lover  of  English,  pure  and  undefiled. 

One  of  the  last  articles  written  by  Dr.  Hunt,  and  one  of  his 
best,  appeared  in  1888.  Its  subject  was  Diabetic  Gangrene,  and, 
strange  to  say,  it  was  the  only  article  upon  that  affection  which, 
up  to  that  date,  had  been  published  in  America.  This,  at  least,  is 
stated  to  be  the  case  by  Dr.  John  S.  Billings,  who,  in  acknowledging 
a  copy  of  the  paper  that  had  been  sent  to  the  Surgeon-General's 
office,  wrote:  "I  have  read  the  paper  with  much  interest.  I  know 
of  no  other  American  paper  on  the  subject." 

In  1881,  Dr.  Hunt  wrote  several  articles  in  defense  of  American 
Surgery,  which  were  widely  published.  They  were  elicited  by  the 
criticisms  of  Professor  Esmarch  upon  the  management  of  the  case 
of  President  Garfield,  and  were  prompted  by  friendship  for  Pro- 
fessor D.  Hayes  Agnew,  who  was  one  of  the  surgeons  in  charge  of 
the  distinguished  patient.  This  motive  was  in  keeping  with  the 
loyal  character  of  Hunt,  but  it  is  open  to  question  whether  one 
should  ever  condescend  to  notice  criticisms  based  upon  such  imper- 
fect knowledge  as  must  have  been  possessed  by  Esmarch  with  refer- 
ence to  the  case  of  Garfield.  Besides,  American  Surgery,  as  repre- 
sented by  Agnew,  needed  no  defender. 

Richard  J.  Levis  (1827-1890)  was  known  throughout  the  United 
States,  both  as  a  surgeon  of  great  dexterity  and  an  excellent  clinical 
teacher.  In  the  latter  capacity,  at  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  surgical  staff  from  1871  to  1885,  and  at  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College  Hospital,  he  exercised  a  wide  influence. 
His  contributions  to  surgical  literature  are,  however,  limited  to  a 
few  short  articles,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  "New  Opera- 
tion for  Coloring  Corneal  Opacities,"  "Skin  Grafting,"  "Ethyliza- 


IN    PHILADELPHIA. 

tion,  the  Anaesthetic  lTse  of  the  Bromide  of  Ethyl,"  and  the  "Treat- 
inciii  of  Hydrocele  bj  Excision  of  Redundant  Scrotum." 

James  E.  Garretson  (1828-1895)  was  widely  and  favorabh 
known  to  the  laity  under  i  In*  now  de  plume  of  John  I  >arby.  With  his 
non-medical  works,  however,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  the 
"Odd  Hours  <»f  ;i  Physician,"  we  are  doI  here  concerned.  He  was 
one  of  the  earliesl  in  this  city  to  adopl  the  specialty  of  Oral  Surgery, 
for  which,  having  studied  dentistry  before  he  took  his  medical 
degree,  be  was  thoroughly  equipped.  He  has  lefl  ;i  magnificent 
monument  t<»  his  memory  in  his  System  of  <>i;il  Surgery,  a  pro- 
fusely illustrated  work  of  L,084  pages,  which  reached  a  sixth  edition 
in  1895.  He  also  wrote  an  excellent  treatise  <»m  the  Diseases  and 
Surgery  of  the  Mouth  and  Jaws. 

For  an  elaborate  analysis  of  the  works  of  William  Goodell 
(1829-1894)  a  volume  would  be  necessary,  as  well  as  an  amount  of 
special  knowledge  such  us  few  possess.  Even  a  mere  enumeration 
of  the  titles  of  liis  publications  would  cover  several  pages.  The 
list  of  his  works  appended  to  Professor  Parvin's  excellent  memoir 
numbers  one  hundred  and  thirteen.  Although  a  voluminous  writer, 
his  works,  whether  in  the  form  of  clinical  lectures,  reports  «»f  cases, 
addresses  or  monographs,  are  models  of  literary  style.  The  same 
faculty  of  lucid  expression  was  manifest  in  his  impromptu  speech 
and  added  greatly  to  his  powers  as  a  teacher. 

Although  Dr.  Goodell  wrote  but  one  book,  his  celebrated  Les- 
sons in  Gynecology,  he  contributed  an  elaborate  monograph  on 
the  Diseases  of  the  ovaries  and  Oviducts  to  the  System  of  Prac- 
tical Medicine,  edited  by  Dr.  William  Pepper,  ami  another  on  the 
Treatment  of  Ovarian  and  Extra-Ovarian  Tumors,  to  the  American 
System  of  Gynecology.  The  tirst  edition  of  the  Lessons  in  Gyne- 
cology appeared  in  1879;  the  second  in  1880,  and  the  third  in  lxv7. 
For  a  period  of  six  years  (from  L882  t<>  L887,  inclusive)  he  published 
annually  a  summary  of  his  year's  work  in  ovariotomy.  These 
articles  appeared  in  the  Medical  News,  and  were  held  in  the  highest 
estimation  by  gynecologists  throughout  the  world.  A  large  per- 
centage of  Dr.  Goodell's  publications  is  in  the  form  of  lectures, 
either  clinical  or  didactic.     In  the  list  above  referred  to,  there  are 


528  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

forty-three  lectures,  several  of  which  were  published  in  the  Inter- 
national Clinics.  Among  these  numerous  papers  the  most  original 
and,  in  some  respects,  the  most  valuable,  is  the  one  entitled  "What 
I  Have  Learned  to  Unlearn  in  Gynecology."  In  it,  Dr.  Goodell 
describes  the  mistakes  arising  from  a  blind  adherence  to  old  wives' 
fables  concerning  the  catamenia,  the  menopause,  mammary  ab- 
scesses, leucorrhoea,  etc.,  and  shows  the  important  part  played  by 
neurasthenia  in  the  production  of  uterine  symptoms.  In  short,  he 
virtually  acknowledges  that  he,  in  common  with  the  vast  majority 
of  his  colleagues,  had,  for  years,  in  many  cases,  been  putting  the  cart 
before  the  horse. 

Albert  H.  Smith  (1835-1885)  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Obstetrical  Society,  and  also  of  the  American  Gynecological 
Society,  was  an  excellent  teacher  of  Obstetrics,  and  a  ready  debater, 
but  left  few  evidences  of  his  ability  as  a  writer.  His  contributions 
to  medical  literature,  though  few  in  number,  are  well  described  by 
his  biographer,  Dr.  James  Tyson,  as  "brief,  clear,  fearless  and 
forcible."  They  deal  mostly  with  the  mechanical  aspects  of  obstet- 
rics and  gynecology,  as  is  indicated  by  the  following  selection 
from  the  list  of  nineteen  articles  appended  to  Tyson's  memoir:  An 
Improved  Speculum  (1869),  the  Use  of  Pessaries  in  the  Early 
Months  of  Preguancy  (1875),  A  Vulsellum  for  Using  with  the 
Ecraseur  (1875),  Use  of  Catgut  in  Gynecological  Surgery  (1878), 
Application  of  the  Eotating  Burr  for  Denuding  Tissues  in  the  Ee- 
storative  Surgery  of  theFemale  Pelvis  (1878),  Pendulum  Leverage  of 
the  Obstetric  Forceps  (1879),  On  the  Use  of  Intrauterine  Stem  Pes- 
saries (Proceedings  Phila,  Co.  Med.  Soc,  1879-80),  Axis  Traction 
with  the  Obstetric  Forceps  (1882),  etc. 

Dr.  Albert  H.  Smith  was  a  man  who,  partly  in  virtue  of  an 
impressive  personality,  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  the  men  of 
his  generation.  His  writings,  though  few  in  number,  are  of  great 
value,  as  they  embody  the  results  of  an  enormous  experience  in 
his  chosen  field  of  labor. 

James  Howell  Hutchinson  (1834-1889),  at  the  time  of  his  death 
Vice-President  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  was  one  of  the  most 
valuable  contributors  to  Transactions  of  the  Pathological  Society 


in  run.  \i»i:i.riiiA. 

•  if  Philadelphia,  of  which  lie  was  elected  President  in  L87J  and 
L872;  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  Reports,  i<>  the  American  I « » ' 1 1- 
n;il  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  and  other  journals;  the  Transactions 
of  the  Association  «'('  American  Physicians,  etc.  Ele  also  « -  * » i :  - 
tributed  valuable  articles  on  typhus,  typhoid  and  simple  continued 
fevers,  to  the  System  of  Medicine,  edited  h.\  Drs.  William  Pep 
and  Louis  Starr,  and  edited  two  American  editions  of  Bristowe's 
Practice  of  Medicine.  The  latter  undertaking  was  performed  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  distinguished  author  of  the  book,  who 
wrote  to  Dr.  Hutchinson  when  the  second  American  edition  was 
announced:  "I  am  gratified  to  hear  thai  you  will  undertake  to  edil 

my  work I  could   oot  wish  thai    it   should   be  in  better 

hands,"  meaning,  undoubtedly,  by  this  ambiguous  expression,  thai 
it  could  not  be  in  better  hands.  One  of  ]  >r.  Hutchinson's  host  papers, 
and  also  one  of  his  latest,  is  on  "The  Management  of  the  Stage  of 
Convalescence  in  Typhoid  Fever,"  and  is  contained  in  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  Association  of  American  Physicians,  Vol.  III. 

Dr.  Eutchinson  was  eminently  conservative.  There  arc  tl  - 
who  appropriate  this  epithel  to  themselves  on  the  ground  thai  they 
reject  everything  thai  is  new.  Hutchinson  was  not  of  tin's  type. 
While  not  "carried  away  by  every  \*  ind  of  doctrine,"  he  was  a  dili- 
gent student  of  the  medical  literal  ure  of  the  day,  and  adopted  such 
methods  of  diagnosis  and  treatment  as  stood  the  t«*st  of  clinical 
experience;  for.  like  Gerhard,  whom  ho  succeeded  at  tin-  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital,  he  was.  above  all  things,  a  clinician.  "As  a  writi 
to  quote  the  words  of  Professor  John  Ashhurst,  "Mr.  Hutchinson 
was  noted  for  the  correctness  and  dignity  of  his  style,  saying  just 
what  lie  meant  in  few  hut  well  chosen  words,  and  rigidly  avoiding 
all  flowing  excrescences  and  ambiguities  of  language." 

Samuel  Weissel  Gross  (1837-1889),  late  Professor  of  Surgery 

in  the  Jefferson  .Medical  College,  was  a  man  of  greal  learning,  - 

far  as  surgical  literature  is  concerned,  of  acute  powers  of  diagnosis, 

and  with  a  large  field  in  which  to  exercise  them.    In  addition,  he 

was  an  aide  writer  and  ;i  teacher  whose  words,  always  well  chosen 

and  to  the  point,  were  enforced  by  a  commanding  presence  and  a 

graceful  delivery,     llis  writings  are  distinguished  by  their  exact- 
::t 


530  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

ness  of  observation  and  induction,  and,  consequently,  abound  in 
valuable  statistics.  In  1859,  when  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he 
reported  in  the  North  American  Medico-Chirurgical  Eeview  "A 
case  of  aneurism  of  the  right  femoral  artery  cured  by  digital  com- 
pression, with  remarks  and  a  statistical  report  of  twenty-two  other 
cases  treated  by  this  method."  In  the  American  Journal  of  the 
Medical  Sciences  for  January  and  April,  1867,  he  published  an 
article  on  "Wounds  of  the  Internal  Jugular  Vein  and  Their  Treat- 
ment." To  the  same  journal  for  October  of  the  same  year  (18GT),  he 
contributed  a  review  of  sixty  pages  on  eleven  French  and  German 
works  on  Military  Surgery,  and  gave  statistics  of  13,511  anrputa- 
tions  for  gunshot  injuries,  which  he  afterward  enlarged  to  20,933. 
The  study  of  tumors  and  malignant  growths  especially  attracted 
him,  and  he  had  a  thorough,  practical  knowledge  of  their  minute 
anatomy.  Some  of  the  results  of  these  researches  are  to  be  seen 
in  his  paper  on  Sarcoma  of  the  Long  Bones,  in  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  the  Medical  Sciences  for  July  and  October,  1879.  This  paper, 
as  well  as  his  classical  monograph  on  Tumors  of  the  Mammary 
Gland,  are  partly  the  outcome  of  his  course  of  Mutter  lectures  on 
the  Surgical  Pathology  of  Tumors,  before  the  College  of  Physi- 
cians. In  1881  he  published  a  Practical  Treatise  on  Impotence, 
Sterility  and  Disorders  of  the  Male  Sexual  Organs.  He  was  also  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  Transactions  of  the  American  Surgical 
Association,  and  wrote  an  elaborate  article  on  Tumors  of  the 
Breast,  for  the  American  System  of  Gynecology,  edited  by  Mann. 
Many  of  Dr.  Gross'  writings  appeared  anonymously  in  the  form  of 
editorials  in  the  Medical  News,  and  were  characterized  by  "learned 
research,  surgical  acumen,  clearness  of  expression  and  practical 
application.-7  Dr.  Gross  was  carried  off  in  the  prime  of  life  by  an 
acute  illness.  Had  he  lived,  he  would  probably  have  added  greatly 
to  the  amount  of  his  literary  work,  the  value  of  which  was  steadily 
increasing.  At  his  death  there  was  found  on  his  desk  the  MS.  of  a 
paper  on  Stone  in  Children,  which  he  was  preparing  for  a  Cyclo- 
poedia  on  Diseases  of  Children. 

H.  Lenox  Hodge  (1836-1881),  who  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  at  the  L^niversity  of  Pennsylvania,  was 


l\    rilli.  \i»i:i.l  ill  A.  :.::! 

of  great  assistance  to  his  father  in  his  preparation  of  his  "Principles 
and  Practice  ol  Obstetrics."  [n  the  preface  to  thai  celebrated  w< 
Professor  Hugh  L.  Elodge  pi  marks:  "The  superintendence  of  the 
illustrations  and  the  laborious  duties  of  editor  have  chiefly  devolved 
on  the  author's  son,  II.  Lenox  Hodge,  M.  I  >.,  withoul  whosi 
ance  iliis  work  would  probably  never  have  been  completed."  Dr. 
Hodge's  writings  were  in  the  form  of  contributions  to  journals  and 
"Transactions,"  and  dealt  with  subjects  of  obstetrical,  gynecolog- 
ical, and  general  surgical  interest.  Among  them  were  papers  on 
Excision  of  the  Knee,  Excision  of  the  Hip,  Subcutaneous  Osteotomy, 
Kolpo-Cystotomy,  Metallic  Sutures,  Tracheotomy  for  Pseudo-mem- 
braneous ("roup,  and  the  Drainage  of  Abscesses  and  Wounds  by 
Solid  Met  ;t  I  lie  Probes.  He  was  the  inventor  of  a  canula  for  tapping 
ovarian  cysts. 

Joseph  Gibbons  Richardson  (1836-1886)  was  the  author  of  the 
well-known  Handbook  of  Medical  Microscopy,  and  of  numerous 
articles  on  the  same  subject.  His  repori  on  the  Structure  of  the 
White  Blood  Corpuscles  (Trans,  Am.  Med.  Ass..  Vol.  23)  is  a  careful 
siudy  of  the  anatomy  of  those  bodies.  He  describes  the  granules 
which  they  contain,  and  their  vibratory  movement;  but,  it  is  scarcely 
accessary  to  say,  did  not  employ  any  of  the  staining  methods  by 
means  of  which  these  minute  particles  have  acquired  so  greal  a 
clinical  interest.  His  main  object,  in  the  paper  referred  to,  was  to 
prove  the  identity  of  the  white  blood  cells  with  the  so-called  salivary 
corpuscles.  Richardson  was  also  a  worker  with  the  micro-spectro- 
scope, and  wrote  a  paper  on  the  method  of  applying  that  instru- 
ment to  the  detection  of  blood-stains.  In  1879,  he  issued  a  w< 
which  appeared  as  one  of  the  American  Health  Primer  Series,  under 
the  title  of  "Long  Lite  ami  How  to  Reach  It.'"  This  was  translated 
into  French  by  P.  Barrud,  and  from  the  French  into  Creek  by  S. 
Kastoriadou. 

Edward  Rhoads (1841-1871)  assisted  Dr.  J.  Forsj  t  h  Meigs  in  the 
preparation  of  his  elaborate  paper  on  the  Morphological  Changes  of 
the  Blood  in  Malarial  Fever,  already  referred  to;  and,  in  asso<  iation 
with  Dr.  William  Pepper,  published,  in  the  tirsi  volume  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Hospital  Reports,  the  results  of  an  experimental  investi- 


532  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

gation  into  the  Fluorescence  of  the  Tissues  of  the  Body.  He  was 
elected  editor  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  Times,  when  that  journal 
was  founded,  but  was  only  aide  to  make  the  preliminary  arrange- 
ments for  its  publication,  being  compelled  to  resign  the  position 
on  account  of  his  failing  health. 

George  Pepper  (1841-1872)  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Obstetrical  Society;  in  fact,  as  Goodell  says  of  him  i Trans. 
Phila.  Obstet.  Soc,  Vol.  1-2),  he  was  "more  than  that — he  was  one 
of  its  prime  originators.'"  To  the  first  volume  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Hospital  Reports  he  contributed  an  excellent  paper  upon  a  ease  of 
'^Retroversion  of  the  Womb,  Complicated  by  a  Large  Fibroid,*'  and 
to  the  Transactions  of  the  Philadelphia  Obstetrical  Society  two 
papers,  the  one  entitled  Adipose  Deposits  on  the  Omentum  and 
Abdominal  Walls  as  a  Source  of  Error  in  Diagnosis;  the  other  on 
the  Mechanical  Treatment  of  Uterine  Displacements. 

Drs.  Khoads  and  Pepper  are  mentioned,  not  so  much  for  what 
they  did,  as  for  what,  one  is  pleased  to  think,  they  would  have 
accomplished  had  their  lives  been  prolonged.  They  are  well  remem- 
bered as  two  of  the  most  promising  young  men  who  ever  entered 
upon  the  practice  of  Medicine  in  Philadelphia. 

Elliott  Richardson  (1842-1887)  was  the  first  in  this  country  to 
perform  successfully  Cesarean  Section,  with  removal  of  uterus  and 
ovaries  after  the  Poro-Miiller  method.  The  case  is  fully  reported 
in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  1881.  He 
also  published  an  excellent  paper  upon  the  Use  of  the  Obstetric 
Forceps. 

John  S.  Parry  (1813-1876)  was  one  of  the  most  valuable  contrib- 
utors to  Philadelphia  medical  literature.  It  is  not  an  object  of  this 
article  to  institute  comparisons,  but  the  writer  cannot  refrain  from 
stating  that  he  cannot  recall  to  mind  any  physician  who  has 
accomplished  such  valuable  clinical  work  within  ten  years  from 
the  time  of  taking  his  medical  degree  as  was  recorded  by  Parry 
during  that  period  of  his  career.  In  October,  1870,  he  published 
his  first  paper,  entitled  Observations  on  Relapsing  Fever,  as  it 
occurred  in  Philadelphia  in  the  winter  of  1869-70.  It  appeared  in 
the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  for  October,  1870,  and 


i.\  run.  \i'j;i.riiiA. 

attracted  universal  attention.    1 1  lias  beeo  quoted,  both  in  i  hi>  coun- 
i  r\  and  abroad,  by  all  writers  on  "Spirillum  Fever/' 

Of  the  Qumerous  papers  which  he  contributes  t  <•  medical  .j«»ni-- 
nals,  transactions  of  societies,  etc.,  three,  iii  addition  i«»  thai  on 
relapsing  fever,  attracted  special  attention,  and  "would  alone  have 
Lii\<-n  i<>  !>r.  Parry  ;i  prominenl  and  permanent  place  among  'In- 
medical  writers  in  this  country"  mi.  Two  of  these  papers  were  on 
Rachitis,  and  were  designated  i».\  Dr.  R.  W.  Taylor  of  New  STorl 
"the  besl  and  most  comprehensive  articles  in  any  language  upon 
the  subject."  The  other  article  referred  to  was  on  Inherited  Syphilis. 

In  his  papers  <>n  Rachitis,  Parry  was  th<-  first  to  advance  \]\>- 
opinion,  subsequently  confirmed  by  others,  thai  Rachitis  is 
"scarcely  Less  frequent  in  Philadelphia  than  it  is  in  the  larg<  cities 
ni  Greal  Britain  and  the  Continent  of  Europe."  Previous  i o  Parry's 
time,  ii  was  supposed  that  this  disease  was  comparatively  rare  in 
the  United  States.  In  the  American  Journal  of  Obstet  rics,  t8S3,  Vol. 
V,  he  published  an  article  on  the  Comparative  Merits  of  Craniotomy 
andCa3sarean  Section,  in  Small  Pelves  with  Conjugate  Diameter  of 
two  and-one  half  inches  or  less.  This  paper  occupied  forty-three 
pages  of  the  Journal.  Parry's  principal  work  was  a  Treatise  on 
"Extra-uterine  Pregnancy;  [ts  Causes,  Species,  Pathological  Anat- 
omy, Diagnosis,  Prognosis  and  Treatment,  8vo,  pp.  275,  Philadel- 
phia, L875.  An  elaborate  review  of  this  work  in  the  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences  for  April,  L876,  concludes  with 
the  following  words:  "Dr.  Parry's  book,  therefore,  is  destined  to 
be  long  consulted,  and  deservedly,  too,  as  the  highest  authority  on 
this  obscure  and  difficult  class  of  rases."'  Parry  edited  the  second 
and  third  American  editions  of  Leishmann's  System  of  Midwifery, 
and  made  additions  to  the  work,  "the  most  valuable  of  which  are 
contained  in  the  chapters  on  the  Forceps  and  in  the  aew  chapter 
.    .    .    .   on  Diphtheritic  Wounds  of  the  Vagina." 

1 1  en  iv  F.  Formad  (1847-1892)  was  one  of  the  most  active  work- 
ers in  the  Pathological  Society,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  member  in 
L878  and  its  president  in  L889  and  t890.    His  position  as  coroner's 


mi    Memoir  of    Dr.  John  S.   Parry,  by  Jam??   \.  [nsrham,   M.   Iv.    Crans 

l'liys..     1ST.;. 


534  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

physician,  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  gave  him  abundant 
opportunities  for  securing  interesting  specimens  of  disease,  and  he 
fully  availed  himself  of  them.  His  best  work  was  in  the  line  of 
pathological  research.  Formad  was  the  first  in  this  city  to  insist  on 
ectopic  pregnancy  as  a  frequent  cause  of  sudden  death,  and  to 
prove  that  many  cases  in  which  certificates  of  death  from  "peri- 
toneal hemorrhage  from  causes  unknown,"  or  from  "probably  injury 
of  abdomen,"  or  "rupture  of  abdominal  vessels,"  "hematoceles  and 
varicoceles  of  tubes,"  etc.,  were,  in  all  probability,  cases  of  extra- 
uterine fcetation.  He  admits  having  made  such  mistakes  in  the 
early  part  of  his  career  as  coroner's  physician,  but  he  soon  dis- 
covered his  error  and  collected  thirty-five  cases  in  which  he  traced  a 
fatal  peritoneal  hemorrhage  to  its  true  source — an  extra-uterine 
ovum. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  a  complete  list  of  Formad's  writings. 
One  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Pathological  Society  (Vol. 
XV)  contains  thirty-five  of  his  communications  to  that  body, 
besides  numerous  discussions  of  the  papers  of  other  members.  Out- 
side of  these  "Transactions,"  which  contain  his  best  work,  he  pub-, 
lished  "Comparative  Studies  of  Mammalian  Blood,  with  Special 
Eeference  to  the  Differential  Diagnosis  of  Bloodstains  in  Crim- 
inal Cases"  (1888,  p.  61) ;  the  Distribution  of  Nerves  in  the  Iris  (Am. 
Jour.  Med.  Sci.,  Jan.,  1878);  the  Etiology  of  Tumors  (1881,  p.  53);  the 
Pig-backecl  or  Alcoholic  Kidney  of  Drunkards,  a  Contribution  to  the 
Post-mortem  Diagnosis  of  Alcoholism  (188G);  and  a  special  edition 
of  74  plates,  illustrating  the  Etiology  of  Tumors  (1883).  In  1881,  in 
association  with  Prof.  H.  C.  Wood,  he  wrote  a  Memoir  on  the  Nature 
of  Diphtheria,  and,  in  1889,  he  contributed  to  Vol.  IV  of  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Association  of  American  Physicians,  an  elaborate 
paper  on  the  Anatomical  Belations  of  Lesions  of  the  Heart  and 
the  Kidneys  in  Bright's  Disease,  from  the  Study  of  Three  Hundred 
Cases.  An  abstract  of  each  of  the  three  hundred  cases  is  appended 
to  this  paper. 

Edward  Tunis  Bruen  (1851-1889)  was  rapidly  adding  to  his  well- 
earned  reputation  as  writer,  teacher  and  clinician,  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight.    Like  Formad,  he  was  an  active 


IN   PHILADELPHIA. 

worker  in  the  Pathological  Society,  as  has  been  nearly  everj  physi- 
cian of  the  present  daj  who  Lias  attained  distinction  in  Philadel- 
phia. His  principal  works  are  the  following:  Anasarca  ;is  a 
Symptom  of  Deficienl  Vaso-motor  Tonus  (Med.  Times,  1879);  \ 
Pocketboofc  of  Physical  Diagnosis,  L881,  pp.  256.  This  was  an 
excellent  manual  for  the  studenl  and  practitioner,  and,  bad  the 
author  lived,  would  doubtless  have  continued  to  maintain  ;i  lii'jli 
rank  among  the  aumerous  works  of  its  class,  li  reached  a  second 
edition  in  L883.  In  L884,  Dr.  Bruen  wrote,  in  collaboration  with 
Professor  J.  William  \\"  1 1  i  i « -,  ;i  contribution  to  the  Operative  Treat- 
ment of  Purulenl  Pleural  Effusions.  En  L887,  he  published  bis  sec- 
ond Monograph,  entitled,  Outlines  for  the  Management  of  Diet,  or 
the  Regulation  of  Pood  to  the  Requirements  of  Health  and  the 
Treatment  of  Disease;  and  in  L888,  a  paper  on  tin-  Relative  Impor- 
tance of  Different  Climatic  Elements  in  the  Treatment  of  Phthisis 
(Med.  News,  Oct.  13,  L888).  He  also  contributed  to  W I's  Refer- 
ence Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences  (edited  by  Dr.  Albert  II. 
Ruck  of  New  York)  an  excellent  article  on  Pericarditis. 

Dr..  John  M.  Keating  (1852-1894)  is  most  widely  known  as  the 
editor  of  thet  Jyclopsedia  of  the  Diseases  of  Children,  and  the  founder 
of  the  International  Clinics.  He  was  also  the  founder  of  Th 
Climatologist  and  editor  of  the  Archives  of  Pediatrics.  The  fact  that 
he  was  so  intimately  associated  with  these  successful  enterprises, 
shows  him  to  have  been  a  man  of  marked  executive  ability.  In 
addition,  however,  he  was  a  well-known  writer,  especially  upon  tin- 
Diseases  of  children.  His  principal  contributions  to  Pediatrics  are 
i  he  following:  "The  Mothers'  Guide  to  the  Management  and  Feed- 
ing of  Infants;"  "Diseases  of  the  Heart  and  Circulation  in  Chil- 
dren:"' "Maternity — Infancy — ( Mi i  hi  hood ;"  and  "Mother  and  rh i hi." 
Outside  of  Pediatrics,  his  work  was  also  extensive.  For  several 
years  before  removing  to  Colorado  (in  L890),  Dr.  Keating  had  been 
Medical  Director  of  the  Penn  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany,  and  was,  therefore,  eminently  qualified  t->  write  upon  "How 
toJSxamine  Tor  Life  Insurance."  llis  work  bearing  that  title  is  a 
recognized  authority  among  medical  examiners  for  lit*'  insurance 
com  panics,  in  ls7!>.  Dr.  Keating  was  one  of  the  parties  that  accom- 


536  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

panied  General  Grant  to  India,  Burmah,  Siani  and  China,  and  on  his 
return  he  published  an  interesting  record  of  the  voyage,  entitled 
"With  General  Grant  in  the  East."  Besides  the  above  works,  and 
in  spite  of  feeble  health,  Dr.  Keating  compiled  "A  New  Pronouncing 
Dictionary  of  Medicine,"  and  contributed  articles  to  Pepper's  Sys- 
tem of  Medicine,  Sajous's  Annual,  Buck's  Reference  Hand-Book, 
etc. 

Nathaniel  Archer  Randolph  (1858-1887)  wrote  a  number  of  excel- 
lent papers  on  digestion  and  food  substances,  and  on  the  action  of 
drugs,  such  as  hydrobromic  acid  and  nicotine.  In  collaboration 
with  Dr.  Samuel  Dixon,  he  published  Notes  from  the  Physiological 
Laboratory  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  and,  with  Dr.  A.  E. 
Eoussel,  he  issued  A  Study  of  the  Nutritive  Value  of  Branny  Foods. 
The  latter  was  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  College  of 
Physicians,  third  series,  Vol.  VII. 

In  writing  this  chapter,  the  impression  of  the  inestimable  value 
of  Philadelphia's  contributions  to  medical  literature  has  steadily 
deepened  in  the  mind  of  the  writer.  From  the  list  of  authors,  many 
distinguished  names  will  undoubtedly  be  missed,  but  it  will  be 
found,  as  a  rule,  that  they  belong  to  those  who  have  written  little 
or  nothing  of  permanent  value,  or  to  those  who  have  won  renown  for 
their  researches  in  departments  that  cannot  strictly  be  called  medi- 
cal. Among  the  latter  are  Bartram,  Harlan,  Godman,  Barton,  Hare, 
Rogers,  S.  G.  Morton,  Seybert,  Ruschenberger,  J.  Gibbons  Hunt, 
Aitkin  Meigs,  Le  Conte,  Wormley,  George  A.  Rex,  and  last  and 
greatest  of  all,  Joseph  Leidy. 

There  is  another  to  whom  a  tribute  of  gratitude  is  due  from 
every  medical  author  of  Philadelphia.  Reference  is  made  to  Dr. 
Samuel  Lewis,  the  munificent  founder  of  the  Lewis  Library  of  the 
College  of  Physicians. 

Living  writers  have  not  been  mentioned,  first,  because  this 
work  is  a  history,  not  a  record  of  current  events;  and,  secondly, 
because  their  works  are  known  and  read  by  all.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  they  have  kept  up  the  tradition  of  their  fathers  and  that  Phila- 
delphia, so  far  as  concerns  her  medical  literature,  might  truly  adopt 
as  her  motto:    "Xnlla  vestigia  retrorsumP 


IN    PHILADEL1  MIA. 
MEDICAL    [Ol'RNALS    "l      PHILADELPHIA. 

1.  The  Philadelphia  Medical  and  Physical  Journal.  Quarterly. 
Collected  and  arranged  l>.\  Benjamin  Smith  Barton.  Vols.  [-Ill, 
L804-09,  s\<»,  wiiii  ;i  fourth  volume  containing  three  supplements, 
I  80C  I  809. 

2.  The  Philadelphia  Medical  Museum.  Quarterly.  Con- 
ducted  i'.\  John  Redman  Coxe.  Seven  volumes,  L805-1811,  x\", 
completed.  Aftei  Vol.  II.  ;i  portion  of  each  volume,  entitled  Med- 
ical and  Philosophical  Register,  i-  paged  separately  in  Roman 
numerals. 

."..  The  Eclectic  Repertory  and  Analytical  Review.  Medical 
and  Philosophical.  Edited  by  ;i  Society  of  Physicians.  Quarterly. 
Vols.  l-X,  L811-1820,  8vo.  Continued  as  the  Journal  of  For< 
Medical  Science  and  Literature.  Quarterly.  Conducted  l>.\  Samuel 
Emlen,  Jr.,  and  William  Price.  L821-1824,  8vo.  The  nrsl  two  vol- 
umes were  conducted  by  Price  and  Emlen,  tin-  third  by  Samuel 
Em  leu,  i  In-  fourl  li  by  John  I  >.  <  rodma  a. 

I.  The  American  Medical  Recorder.  \'..ls.  [-XV,  L818-1829. 
"Conducted  1>.\  several  respectable  physicians  of  Philadelphia." 
Quarterly.  The  title  of  \'<>ls.  VII-XII  inclusive  was  changed  i<> 
Medical  Recorder  of  Original  Papers  and  [ntelligence  in  Medicine 
and  Surgery.  Vols.  XIII-XV  have  tin-  original  title.  Vol.  II  was 
conducted  by  John  Eberle;  Vols.  Ill  ami  [V  by  John  Eberle,  Gran- 
ville Sharp  Pattison,  of  the  University  of  Maryland,  Benrj  William 
Ducachet,  of  New  York,  and  John  Revere,  of  Baltimore;  Vol.  V  by 
Eberle  ami  Ducachet;  Vol.  VI  conducted  by  an  association  of 
l»li\  sicians  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimoreand  Norfolk;  Vols.  VII,  VIII, 
IX  ami  X  conducted  by  Samuel  Colli mni;  Vols.  XI.  XII.  XIII  ami 
XIV  I».\  James  Webster,  Caleb  B.  Matthews  and  [saac  Remington. 
Merged  in  the  American  Journal  of  i  In-  Medical  Sciences  after  No. 
2,  Vol.  XV,  April.  L829. 

r>.  The  Philadelphia  Journal  of  the  Medical  and  Physical 
Sciences,  supported  by  an  association  of  physicians  and  edited  by 
N.  Chapman.  With  Vol.  X  begins  a  new  series  edited  by  X.  Chap- 
man, W.  P.  Dewees.  and  a*<»lni  I  >.  Godman.     Vol.  XIV  *-<! ii «-« i  bv  tin* 


53S  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

same,  with  the  addition  of  Isaac  Hays.  Continued  as  the  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences. 

6.  The  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences.  Quarterly 
until  1888  (Vol.  95),  when  it  became  a  monthly.  Edited  solely  by 
Isaac  Hays  until  1869  (Vol.  58).  Vols.  58  to  73  inclusive  edited 
by  Isaac  Hays,  assisted  by  I.  Minis  Hays;  Vols.  74-77,  inclusive, 
edited  by  Isaac  Hays  and  I.  Minis  Hays;  Vols.  78-90,  inclusive, 
edited  by  I.  Minis  Hays;  Vols.  91-94,  inclusive,  have  the  additional 
title  of  the  "International  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,"  and  are 
edited  by  I.  Minis  Hays  and  Malcolm  Morris,  of  London;  Vols.  95- 
100,  inclusive,  are  edited  solely  by  I.  Minis  Hays.  In  January, 
1891  (Vol.  101),  Edward  P.  Davis  became  sole  editor.  From  1893 
(Vol.  106)  to  the  present  time  this  journal  has  been  published  under 
the  editorship  of  Edward  P.  Davis  "with  the  cooperation  in  London 
of  Hector  Mackenzie." 

Beginning  in  1827,  this  remarkable  journal  was  edited  for  forty- 
two  years  by  one  man,  Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  with  steadily  increasing 
prosperity.  After  the  death  of  Dr.  Hays  (April  12,  1879)  the  high 
standard  of  the  journal  was  maintained  by  his  son,  Dr.  I.  Minis 
Hays,  and  the  methods  which  insured  the  success  of  "Hays'  Jour- 
nal" are  still  successfully  pursued  b}^  its  present  editor,  Dr.  Edward 
P.  Davis.  In  his  obituary  notice  of  Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  the  late  Professor 
S.  D.  Gross,  writing  in  1879,  says,  with  reference  to  the  American 
Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences:  "What  other  journal,  American 
or  foreign,  can  boast  of  having  furnished  its  readers,  during  the 
same  period,  upward  of  50,000  octavo  pages  of  closely  printed  mat- 
ter, of  which  at  least  three-fourths  are  original?  Many  of  the 
original  articles  will  be  ranked  in  all  time  to  come  as  among  the 
most  valuable  contributions  to  our  medical  literature,  while  not  a 
few  of  its  reviews  will  be  regarded  as  models  of  English  composi- 
tion, equal  to  any  that  ever  appeared  in  the  United  States  or  Great 
Britain."  Still  more  emphatic  is  the  testimony  of  Dr.  John  S. 
Billings  concerning  the  value  of  this  periodical.  In  his  Centennial 
History  of  American  Medical  Literature,  this  eminent  authority 
remarks:  "The  ninety-seven  volumes  of  this  journal  need  no 
eulogy.     They  contain  many  original  papers  of  the  highest  value; 


IN  PHILADELrH  IA. 

i  m  • ;  1 1  - 1  \  all  the  real  criticisms  ; « n « I  reviews  thai  we  possess;  and  such 
carefully  prepared  summaries  of  the  progress  of  medical  science, 
and  abstracts  and  aotices  of  foreign  works,  thai  from  this  file  alone, 
were  all  other  productions  of  the  press  for  the  lasl  fifty  years 
destroyed,  ii  would  !><■  possible  to  reproduce  ili«'  greal  majority  of 
the  real  contributions  of  the  world  to  medical  science  during  thai 
period." 

7.  The  /Esculapian  Register.  Weekly.  "Edited  by  several 
physicians."     Vol.  [,  June  IT  to  December!),  L824.     Ended. 

8.  The  .Medical  Review  and  Analectic  Journal.  Quarterly. 
Conducted  by  John  Eberle  and  ( George  McClellan.  Vols.  L-3,  June, 
L824,  to  August,  L826.  Ended.  The  title  of  the  lasl  two  volumes 
was  changed  to  ''The  American  Medical  Review  and  Journal  of 
Original  ami  Selected  Papers  in  Medicine  and  Surgery,"  and 
Nathan  Smith  and  Nathan  R.  Smith  were  added  as  editors. 

'.».  North  American  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  conducted 
by  II.  I-  Hodge, F.  Bache,  C.  D.  Meigs,B.  H.  Coates  and  R.  La  Roche. 
Quarterly.  Two  volumes,  annually.  Vols.  1-12,  January,  1826,  to 
October,  1831,  8vo.  Ended.  Vols.  5-12  published  by  the  Kappa 
Lambda  Association  of  the  United  Slates. 

10.  The  Philadelphia  Monthly  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Sur- 
gery.  Edited  by  X.  R.  Smith.  Two  volumes  annually.  Vol  I, 
June,  1827,  to  December,  1827;  Vol.  II,  December,  1827,  to  February, 
1828.     Merged  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences. 

11.  The  Monthly  Journal  of  Foreign  Medicine.  Edited  by 
Squire  Littell.     Vols.  1-3,  January,  1828,  to  June,  L829. 

12.  The  Cholera  Gazette.  Edited  by  Isaac  Hays.  Weekly. 
Nos.  I -Hi,  July  11  to  November  21,  1832.     Ended. 

L3.  The  American  Lancet.  Bi-weekly.  Edited  by  F.  9. 
Beattie.    Nos.  1-7,  Vol.  1, 1833. 

14.    American  Cyclopaedia  of  Practical  .Medicine  and  Surgery. 

A  digest  of  medical  literature.     By  Isaac  Hays.     Vols.  L-2,   L834- 

1836.     Properly  speaking,  this  is  not  ;i  •'journal,"  although  included 

'among  the  .Medical  Journals  of  the  United  sinies   by  Dr.  John  S. 

Billings. 

1  5.     The  American  Medical  Library  and  [ntelligencer.     Edited 


540  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

by  Gr.  S.  Pattison  and  R.  Dimglison,  1836.     Specimen  sheet.     Con- 
tinued as  the  American  Medical  Intelligencer. 

10.  The  Eclectic  Journal  of  Medicine.  Monthly.  Edited  by 
John  Bell.     Vols.  MY.,  1836-1840. 

17.  The  American  Medical  Intelligencer.  A  concentrated 
record  of  medical  science  and  literature.  Semi-monthly  and 
monthly.  Edited  by  Eobley  Dimglison.  Five  volumes,  1837-1812. 
Continued  as  the  Medical  News  and  Library. 

18.  Medical  News  and  Library.  Monthly.  Vols.  1-37,  1813- 
1879.  In  1880  united  with  the  Monthly  Abstract  of  Medical  Science 
to  form 

10.  The  Medical  News  and  Abstract.  Monthly.  Edited  by 
I.  Minis  Hays.     Vols.  38-39,  1880-1881.     Continued  as 

20.  The  Medical  News.  Weekly.  Beginning  1882.  Edited 
by  I.  Minis  Hays,  until  the  completion  of  Vol.  51.  Vols.  55-57,  inclu- 
sive, edited  by  Hobart  A.  Hare;  Vols.  58-67,  inclusive,  edited  by 
George  M.  Gould.  In  January,  1896,  the  Xews  began  to  be  pub- 
lished in  Xew  York  under  the  editorship  of  J.  Kiddle  Goffe.  Cur- 
rent. 

21.  The  Medical  Examiner.  Bi-weekly  and  monthly.  Vols. 
1-3  edited  by  J.  B.  Biddle,  M.  Clymer  and  W.  W.  Gerhard;  Vol.  1  by 
J.  B.  Biddle,  V'.  W.  Gerhard  and  W.  Poyntell  Johnston;  Vol.  5  by 
J.  B.  Biddle  and  W.  W.  Gerhard;  Vol.  6  by  Meredith  Clymer;  Vol.  7 
by  Robert  M.  Huston.  In  1815  this  journal  entered  upon  a  '"new 
series*"  under  the  title  of  the  Medical  Examiner  and  Kecord  of 
Medical  Science.  The  first  four  volumes  of  the  new  series  were 
edited  by  Robert  M.  Huston;  Vol.  5  by  Francis  G.  Smith  and  David 
H.  Tucker;  Vol.  6  by  Francis  Gurney  Smith;  Vols.  7,  8  and  9  by 
Francis  Gurney  Smith  and  J.  B.  Biddle;  Vols.  10,  11,  12  (1856)  by 
Samuel  L.  Hollingsworth.  In  1857,  this  journal  was  united  with  the 
Louisville  Review  to  form  the  North  American  Medico-Chirurgical 
lie  view. 

22.  The  Bulletin  of  Medical  Sciences.  Monthly.  Edited  by 
John  Bell.     Four  volumes,  1813-16,  8vo.     Completed. 

23.  Xordamerikanischer  Monatsbericht  fur  Natur  and  Heil- 
kuude.     Four  volumes,  1850-52,  8vo. 


IN  PHILADELPHIA.  541 

24.  The  Philadelphia  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal.  Semi- 
monthly.    Edited  i».\  James  Bryan.     Vols.  L-6,  L853-58,  8vo. 

lT).     The  North  A rican  Medico-Chirurgieal  Review.    Edited 

l»\  S.  I  >.  <  I  ross  and  T.  <  >.  Richardson.  Bi  monthly.  Vols.  I-  v.  1 857- 
(il,  8vo.  Completed.  Founded  by  consolidation  of  the  Medical 
Exa  miner  a  ud  i  he  Louisville  Review. 

26.  The  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter.  A  weeklj  journal 
edited  i>.\  S.  W.  Butler  and  R.  J.  Levis.  Two  volumes  annually. 
Vol.  [,  L859;  Vol.  7,  L.  C.  Butler  added  to  the  editorial  staff;  Vol.  8, 
L.C.Butler  retired;  Vol.  9,  Levis  retired;  Vol.16,  D.  G.  Brinton  added. 
S.  W.  Butler  died  January  6,  1*71.  In  L882,  J.  F.  Edwards  added. 
In  May,  L887,  N.  A.  Randolph  and  Charles  W.  Dulles  became  editors. 
January,  L888,  to  April  26,  L891,  Charles  W.  Dulles,  sole  editor. 
April  26,  L891,  to  June,  L892,  Edward  T.  R<  ichert,  soleeditor.  July, 
L892,  to  the  presenl  time,  Harold  II.  Kynett,  sole  edit  or. 

27.  Half  Yearly  Compendium  of  Medical  Science.  Edited  by 
S.  \Y.  Butler,  D.  G.  Brinton  and  G.  II.  Napheys,  1868-82,  8vo. 
1875-77,  Dr.  Brinton  soleeditor:  in  ls7S,  (  \  (  \  Yanderbeck,  cu-.-dii.-r. 
In  1SS3,  continued  as  Quarterly  Compendium  of  Medical  Science, 
under  the  same  editorial  management  as  that  of  the  Medical  and 
Surgical  Reporter.    Ended  in  1889. 

28.  The  Photographic  Review  of  Medicine  and  Surgery.  A 
bi-monthly  illustration  of  interesting  cases,  accompanied  by  notes. 
Edited  by  F.  F.  Maurj  and  L.  A.  Duhring.  Two  volumes,  L870-72, 
Svo.    Completed. 

l,(.».  The  Philadelphia  Medical  Times.  A  semi-monthly  journal 
of  medical  ami  surgical  science.  The  title  of  Vol.  I,  L870-71,  was 
The  Medical  Times,  and  the  names  of  I  >r.  -lames  II.  Hutchinson, 
editor,  and  Dr.  -lames  Tyson,  assistant  editor,  appear  on  the  title 
page.  Vols.  -'>-."»  (1872-75)  were  published  weekly.  With,  and  sub- 
sequently to,  Vol.  •'»  (1875-76),  it  became  a  fortnightly  journal,  with 
Ih.ratio  C.  Wood  as  editor.  With  Vol.  14  (1883-84)  Prank  Wood- 
bury became  editor.  With  Vol.  L8  (1887-88)  W.  P.  Waugh  became 
editor.     Vol.  L9,  completed. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  names  of  the  editors  of  this  journal 
rarely  appear  on  the  title  page  (they  are  on  the  title  page  of  Vol.  I 


542  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

and  are  not  printed  again  until  the  issue  of  Vol.  XV),  its  editorial 
history  is  somewhat  obscure.  As  previously  stated,  Dr.  Edward 
Ehoads  was  chosen  as  editor  when  the  Medical  Times  was  founded, 
but,  owing  to  failing  health,  was  only  able  to  make  the  preliminary 
arrangements  for  its  publication.  For  the  first  few  months  of  its 
publication,  the  "Times"  was  edited  anonymously  by  Dr.  William 
Pepper.  Drs.  Hutchinson  and  Tyson  were  succeeded  by  Dr.  John 
H.  Packard  and  by  Dr.  Horatio  C.  Wood. 

30.  The  Medical  Cosmos.  A  monthly  abstract  of  medical 
science  and  art.  G.  J.  Zeigler,  editor.  Vol.  I,  Xos.  1-5.  Vol.  II, 
1871-1872,  8vo. 

31.  The  Obstetrical  Journal  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  etc. 
Monthly.  Edited  by  J.  H.  Aveling  and  A.  Wiltshire,  with  an 
American  supplement  edited  by  Wm.  F.  Jenks,  Philadelphia. 
Vols.  I- VIII,  1873-80,  Svo.  Ended.  Vols.  IV- VII  of  the  American 
supplement  edited  by  J.  V.  Ingham.  The  supplement  discontinued 
after  end  of  Vol.  VII,  January,  1880. 

32.  The  Monthly  Abstract  of  Medical  Science.  A  digest  of 
the  purposes  of  medicine  and  the  collateral  sciences;  being  a  sup- 
plement to  the  Medical  News  and  Library.  Vols.  1-6,  July,  1874,  to 
December,  1879.  After  1879  united  with  the  Medical  Xews  and 
Library,  forming  the  Medical  News  and  Abstract. 

33.  The  Medical  Bulletin.  A  bi-monthly  journal  for  physi- 
cians and  students.  Editorial  committee  for  1879:  J.  V.  Shoe- 
maker, H.  Leffmann  and  J.  T.  Eskridge.  In  1880,  Dr.  Shoemaker 
became  sole  editor.     In  May,  1880,  became  a  monthly.     Current. 

34.  The  College  and  Clinical  Record.  A  monthly  medical 
journal  conducted  especially  in  the  interest  of  the  graduates  and 
students  of  Jefferson  Medical  College.  Edited  by  Richard  J.  Dun- 
glison  and  Frank  Woodbury.  After  Vol.  5,  1884,  Dr.  Dunglison 
became  sole  editor.  In  1896,  title  changed  to  Dunglison's  College 
and  Clinical  Record.     Current. 

35.  The  Polyclinic.  A  monthly  journal  of  medicine  and  sur- 
gery conducted  by  the  faculty  of  the  Philadelphia  Polyclinic  and 
College  for  Graduates  in  Medicine.  Henry  Leffmann,  editor-in- 
chief,  1883-1889. 


I  \    PHILADELPH  I  \. 

(No.  2.)     The  Philadelphia  Polyclinic,  March,  L892.  A  j -nal  of 

practical  scientific  medicine,  edited  i»\  a  committee  of  the  faculty. 
Began  as  o  quarterly  ;  continued  from  January ,  L893,  as  a  monthly. 
Vol.  IN,  L894,  weekly,  :i i >< I  continued  as  such.    Current. 

36.  The  Medical  World.  C.  F.  Taylor,  editor  and  publisher. 
Began  September,  L883  (monthly).  In  Vol.  :'>,  L.  Lewis  added  as 
associate  editor;  Vol.  6,  I  ,  I '.  Taylor,  Louis  Lew  is  and  J.  J.  Taj  lor, 
editors;  Vol.  8,  W.  II.  Walling  added;  Vol.  LO,  C.  F.  Taylor  and 
J.  J.  Taylor,  editors;  L897,G.  F.  Taylor,  editor.     Current. 

:'»7.  Annals  of  Surgery.  Monthly.  Commenced  January, 
L885.  Published  in  St.  Louis.  Place  of  publication  changed  to 
Philadelphia,  January,  L892.  In  L892,  Lewis  S.  Pilcher,  J.  William 
While  and  Frederick  Treves,  editors.  July,  L892,  William  Mac- 
ewen  added.  January,  L896,  Treves  retired  and  W.  H.  A.  Jacobson 
added. 

38.  -Medical  Register.  Weekly.  Commenced  February  12, 
L887.  Followed  by  Times  and  Register.  Weekly,  May  I.  L889. 
The  latter  merged  into  Medical  Times  and  Register.  Bi-weekly, 
January  L  1896.  Current.  Editors,  J.  V.  Shoemaker  and  W.  C. 
Wile.  Vol.  LI,  J.  V.  Shoemaker;  Vols.  [II  and  IV,  J.  V.  Shoemaker 
and  William  II.  Pancoasl ;  Vol.  V,  William  F.  Waugh.  Times  and 
Register,  L889,  May  to  December,  editor  William  F.  Waugh;  L890, 

William  F.  Waugh,  managing  editor;  -L ary,   L894,    Frank    S. 

Parsons,  manager  and  editor;  1895,  July,  Frank  S.  Parsons,  editor, 
Joseph  R.Clausen,  manager.     Medical  Times  and  Register,  Janu- 
ary, L896,  Frank  S.  Parsons,  editor;  Joseph   R.  Clausen,  busi] 
manager.    Current. 

39.  Annual  of  the  Universal  Medical  Sciences.  A  yearly 
reporl  of  the  progress  of  the  general  sanitary  sciences  throughout 
the  world.  Edited  by  <  Jharles  E.  Sajous  and  seventy  associate  edi- 
tors.    Five  volumes  yearly.     Began  in  1888.    Current 

lit.  Satellite  of  the  Annual  of  the  Unn  ersal  Medical  Sciences. 
Quarterly.  Commenced  August,  L887.  January,  L890,  became  a 
niiiiii  lily.  New  series,  Vol.  L  1 893,  I  il  le  I  Iniversal  Medical  Journal. 
Monthly.  Current  Vols.  I  and  II  of  Satellite  edited  by  Charles  E. 
Sajous;  Vol.  1 1  L  L889-1890,  edited  by  <  Jharles  E.  Sajous,  assisted  by 


:,U  HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 

C.  Sumner  Witherstine.  Universal  Medical  Journal,  Vols.  I  and  II 
edited  by  Charles  E.  Sajous;  Vol.  Ill,  1895,  by  Charles  E.  Sajous  and 
Eugene  Devereux,  assistant  editor.     Current. 

41.  University  Medical  Magazine.  Monthly.  Commenced 
October,  1888.  Edited  under  the  auspices  of  the  Alumni  and 
Faculty  of  Medicine  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Vol.  IV, 
editorial  committee,  J.  Howe  Adams  and  Alfred  C.  Wood;  Vol.  V, 
Alfred  C.  Wood  and  A.  A.  Stevens.     Current. 

42.  International  Clinics.  Quarterly.  Commenced  April, 
1891.  Editors,  John  M.  Keating,  J.  P.  Crozer  Griffith,  J.  Mitchell 
Bruce  and  David  W.  Finlay;  Vol.  I,  1892,  editors,  John  M.  Keating, 
Judson  Daland,  J.  Mitchell  Bruce  and  David  W.  Finlay;  Vol.  IV, 
1894,  and  subsequently,  Drs.  Daland,  Bruce  and  Finlay,  editors. 
Current. 

43.  International  Medical  Magazine.  Monthly.  Commenced 
February,  1892.  Editor,  Judson  Daland.  June,  1893,  to  January, 
1894,  editor,  Joseph  P.  Tunis;  February,  1894,  and  subsequently, 
edited  under  the  supervision  of  John  Ashhurst,  Jr.,  James  Whit- 
taker  and  Henry  W.  Cattell.     Current. 

44.  Public  Health.  Quarterly.  W.  B.  Atkinson,  editor. 
Commenced  January,  1896.     Current. 

45.  The  Medical  Council.  Monthly.  Began  March,  1800. 
Edited  by  J.  J.  Taylor;  A.  H.  P.  Leaf,  associate  editor.     Current. 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 

the  Librarian  in  charge. 


'-.\: 


